INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Cambodia: Forestry

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department  (a) provides and  (b) plans to provide support to assist reform of the forestry sector in Cambodia.

Gareth Thomas: DFID provides £13 million over five years to a natural resource management and livelihoods project in Cambodia managed by the Danish development agency Danida. Under this programme £1.2 million has been allocated to support the Forestry Administration to implement a forestry sector action plan. This will help put in place a supportive policy and regulatory environment for more sustainable management of forests.

Cambodia: Politics and Government

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support his Department provides for civil society and non-governmental organisations in Cambodia.

Gareth Thomas: Six non-government organisations (NGOs) receive funding from DFID's Civil Society Challenge Fund for activities in Cambodia. These are Christian Outreach, Health Unlimited, Landmine Disability Support, Cambodia Trust, Ockendon International, and World Vision. Total funding for these projects amounts to almost £2.5 million. Mines Advisory Group also receives funding for its projects to raise awareness of the dangers of mines and to support mine clearance.
	DFID's health and HIV programmes also fund NGOs to support the delivery of Government services. Under the 'Health Sector Support Project', Save the Children Australia, Swiss Red Cross, CARE Australia, and Health Net International receive funding to manage the delivery of primary health care services. DFID also supports Population Services International (PSI) to promote and distribute condoms under the national HIV strategy; and the NGOs World Education and Co-operation for Sustainable Cambodian Society to provide education about HIV/AIDS. Local NGOs working on HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support also receive funding.
	The DFID Livelihoods Programme, implemented through Danish Co-operation (Danida), will agree contracts with a number of NGOs to implement a £7 million civil society component of a larger Danida Livelihoods and Natural Resources programme.

European Development Fund

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department has undertaken a cost-benefit analysis of the  (a) European Development Fund and  (b) International Development Association.

Gareth Thomas: DFID is constantly reviewing the performance of organisations to which it gives money. We are trying new ways of assessing the effectiveness of multilateral development organisations in contributing towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, to inform our aid allocation decisions. This work includes both quantitative and qualitative assessments of the effectiveness of the European Development Fund and the International Development Association. This work is due to be completed towards the second half of the year.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Select Committees: Witnesses

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Leader of the House what assessment he has made of the merits of requiring witnesses to take an oath before giving evidence to Select Committees.

Jack Straw: All select committees have the power to take oral evidence on oath (administered, under Standing Order No. 132, by the Chairman or the Clerk of the Committee). It is not usual for such Committees, other than Committees on private or hybrid Bills, to take evidence on oath although this is done on occasion. The Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Code set the requirements for Ministers and civil servants who give evidence to Select Committees.
	I have made no specific assessment of the merits of Committees taking evidence on oath more widely. It is a matter on which each Committee is best placed to take a view in the circumstances of the individual case.

Trade Unions

Theresa May: To ask the Leader of the House pursuant to his answer of 21 March 2007,  Official Report, column 895W, on Departments: trade unions, if he will ask  (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and  (b) the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to change their policy on answering questions on official meetings in respect of the question from the hon. Member for Maidenhead regarding meetings with trade union representatives in 2006.

Jack Straw: No. Ministers are individually responsible for their own answers, which will inevitably vary between Departments.

WALES

Departments: Advertising

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent on  (a) sponsoring newspaper and publication supplements and  (b) funding advertorials in newspapers and publications in the last year for which figures are available; and what the topic of each was.

Peter Hain: Nil.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Coastal Areas: Access

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans to include provisions for coastal access for walkers in the proposed Marine Bill.

Barry Gardiner: The Government's rural manifesto said that action to improve access to the coast would be a priority. We have not yet made any decision on how to take this forward. Natural England has been carrying out detailed research and has recently recommended that the Government should introduce new legislation to enable Natural England to align a "coastal corridor" around the whole coast that people could enjoy with confidence and certainty. We are considering Natural England's advice and intend to issue a public consultation document in the spring.

Departments: Biofuels

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to contribute to meeting the Government's targets on the use of biofuels.

Ian Pearson: A Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) will be introduced in April 2008 which will require 5 per cent. of fuel sold in the UK to come from a renewable source by 2010.
	A number of companies are building, or planning to build, biofuel processing plants in the United Kingdom (UK) which will use UK-grown crops such as oilseed rape, wheat and sugar beet as feedstocks.
	Farmers can claim the single payment for biofuel crops grown on set-aside land or where the €45 per hectare energy aid payment is claimed for crops on non-set-aside land.
	We are also developing carbon and sustainability standards to encourage supply of fuels giving the greatest environmental benefits. We are pressing the EU to take a lead in establishing internationally agreed standards in this area.

Inland Waterways: Finance

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what recent representations he has received on reductions in British Waterways' grant and its likely effects on the canal system;
	(2)  what  (a) meetings and  (b) discussions he has had with British Waterways and the effect on its budget of the reduction in planned maintenance of canals.

Barry Gardiner: The Government have received representations from British Waterways as well as a wide range of hon. Members and key stakeholders following reductions in British Waterways' grant. The representations have taken the form of meetings, correspondence and parliamentary questions. In particular, I met a number of hon. Members and stakeholders at the Parliamentary Waterways Group (PWG) on 12 December 2006 and a range of inland waterways representatives and press at the London Boat Show on 11 January 2007.
	In the last six months, I have met British Waterways six times in my role as Inland Waterways Minister, including at PWG and the Boat Show. Discussions have included funding and delivery of shared strategic objectives.

Inland Waterways: Finance

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much  (a) has been spent in the last five years and  (b) is expected to be spent in the next five years on canal systems, broken down by canal.

Barry Gardiner: The following table provides information on the amount spent by British Waterways on canal systems in England and Wales since 2004. Information on spending is not held centrally on a canal-by-canal basis and, therefore, could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  England and Wales 
			  £ million 
			   31 March 2004  31 March 2005  31 March 2006  31 March 2007 
			   Actual  Actual  Actual  Forecast 
			 Core Waterway(1) 52.4 54.3 60.2 59.4 
			 Major Works(2) 41.9 28.0 31.4 25.1 
			 Total 94.3 82.3 91.6 84.5 
			 (1) Routine spend on infrastructure, for example, replacing lock gates and maintenance and associated overhead costs. (2) For example, repairs and maintenance to principal assets such as bridge repairs, lock chamber repairs, embankments and aqueducts, and culverts. 
		
	
	Comparable figures for spending prior to 2004 are not available due to changes to British Waterways' accounting and computing systems carried out in 2003.
	Decisions on the amount spent on future funding for British Waterways canal systems from 2008 onwards will be informed by the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review settlement.
	Information on canal systems not maintained by British Waterways is not held by my Department.

River Wear

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  on which parts of the River Wear voluntary access agreements have been reached on  (a) both river banks and  (b) a single river bank;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the impact of voluntary access agreements covering only a single river bank on providing effective access to the River Wear.

Barry Gardiner: On the River Wear, 9 km of access, from Houghall to the Sands, has been negotiated through the voluntary access project managed by the Environment Agency. All of this has the agreement of landowners on both banks.
	The voluntary access project delivered over 70 km of access on four rivers. Of this, only 200 m on the River Mersey is with one river bank owner. There is no evidence to suggest that single bank access is likely to be a feature of many agreements and no assessment of the impact of such access has been made.

TRANSPORT

Blue Badge Scheme

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what legal advice his Department has received on blue badge holders parking in loading bays;
	(2)  what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities in relation to blue badge holders and parking in loading bays.

Gillian Merron: The rules about using the blue badge in a loading/unloading bay are contained in the Local Authorities' Traffic Orders (Exemptions for Disabled Persons) (England) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/683). This is supplemented by guidance issued to local authorities and badge holders which conveys the Department's policy, which is to prohibit parking by badge holders where there is a ban on loading or unloading.
	The Department's legal section has recently reviewed the 2000 regulations on this specific aspect and confirmed that they meet the Department's policy intention.

Cycling: Pilot Schemes

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what lessons have been learned from the six cycling demonstration towns.

Tom Harris: The cycling demonstration towns project is now at the halfway stage so it is too soon to assess the full impacts and lessons learned. However, the key lessons learned so far are:
	the success of the project will primarily rest on commitment from senior local authority politicians and officers;
	that commitment needs to extend beyond the lifetime of the project;
	the towns' project managers required support and guidance in the early stages particularly on design of infrastructure and signage;
	funding can unlock significant contributions from developers on cycling infrastructure adding further value to the project;
	the towns that have implemented a co-ordinated approach are yielding the best results.

Departments: Internet

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which websites are funded by his Department.

Gillian Merron: The websites funded by the Department and its Agencies are listed as follows.
	
		
			  Website  Web address 
			 About Transport Direct www.transportdirect.gov.uk 
			 Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) www.aaib.gov.uk 
			 Arrive Alive www.arrivealive.info 
			 Bus Priority Resource Pack www.buspriority.org 
			 Car Fuel Data www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk 
			 CFIT: Commission for integrated transport www.cfit.gov.uk 
			 Cyclesense www.cyclesense.net 
			 Cyclesmart www.cyclesmart.org 
			 Department for Transport www.dft.gov.uk 
			 DfT Matrix www.dft-matrix.net 
			 DPTAC: Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee www.dptac.gov.uk 
			 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency www.dvla.gov.uk 
			 Driving Standards Agency www.dsa.gov.uk 
			 Drugdrive www.drugdrive.com 
			 DVLA Online https://www.dvlaonline.gov.uk/Homepage.asp 
			 DVLA Personalised Registrations www.dvlaregistrations.co.uk 
			 DVLA.gov.uk/vehiclelicences www.vehiclelicence.gov.uk 
			 DVO Group (Driver, Vehicle and Operator Group) e-Community www.ecommunities.dft.gov.uk 
			 Electronic Service Delivery of Abnormal Loads (ESDAL) www.esdal.com 
			 e-Tendering https://www.prep.dft.bravosolution.com/web/login.shtml 
			 Freight best practice www.freightbestpractice.org.uk 
			 Government Car and Despatch Agency www.gcda.gov.uk 
			 HA Environmental Management System (HAEMS) Not yet launched 
			 Hedgehogs www.hedgehogs.aov.uk 
			 Highway Code www.highwaycode.aov.uk 
			 Highways Agency www.highways.aov.uk 
			 ITS Radar www.itsradar.co.uk 
			 Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) www.maib.gov.uk 
			 Maritime and Coastguard Agency www.mcaa.gov.uk 
			 MAVIS Forum www.mobility-centres.ora.uk 
			 MOT info www.motinfo.gov.uk 
			 ODS Databank www.odsdatabank.com 
			 PartnerNET www.ha-partnernet.org.uk 
			 Pass Plus www.passplus.org.uk 
			 Payroll Services e-Community www.ecommunities.dft.gov.uk 
			 Primary School Teaching Resource www.databases.dft.gov.uk/primary 
			 Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) www.raib.gov.uk 
			 Research Compendium www.ha-research.gov.uk 
			 Research Database http://www.rmd.dft.gov.uk/ 
			 Road Safety Resources database www.databases.dft.gov.uk/roadsafety/ 
			 School Lesson Plans Database www.databases.dft.gov.uk/lessonplans 
			 Secondary School Teaching Resource www.databases.dft.gov.uk/secondary 
			 Standards for Highways www.standardsforhighways.co.uk 
			 Sustainable School Travel Database www.databases.dft.gov.uk/schools/ 
			 The Academy www.themotorcycleacademy.co.uk 
			 The Red Ensign Group www.redensignaroup.org 
			 Theory Tests www.theory-tests.co.uk 
			 THINK! www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk 
			 THINK! Seat belts www.thinkseatbelts.com 
			 Traffic England www.trafficengland.com 
			 Transec (Transport Security) e-Community www.ecommunities.dft.gov.uk 
			 Transport Direct www.transportdirect.info 
			 Transport Office www.transportoffice.gov.uk 
			 TSS Plans Registry www.tssplansregistry.co.uk 
			 UK Ship Register http://www.ukshipregister.co.uk/ 
			 UTMC: Urban Traffic Management and Control www.utmc.gov.uk 
			 VCA www.vca.gov.uk 
			 Vehicle Licensing Online (Direct.gov.uk/taxdisc) www.direct.gov.uk/taxdisc 
			 Video Information Highway www.vihengland.org 
			 VOSA Corporate site www.vosa.gov.uk 
			 Water Freight Grant Environmental Benefit Calculator www.dft-eb-calculator.co.uk 
			 WebDAS (Departures from Standards)—Planned Not yet launched 
			 WebTAG: Transport Analysis Guidance www.webtaa.org.uk 
			 What if? www.ask-what-if.com 
			 ActOnCO2 www.dft.gov.uk/actonco2 
			 Heavy Goods www.heavygoodvehicle.com 
			 Driving for work www.dft.gov.uk/drivingforwork 
			 Tempro www.tempro.org.uk 
			 Bikeability www.bikeability.org.uk 
			 Cycling England www.cyclingengland.co.uk 
			 Bike for All(1) www.bikeforall.net 
			 Query www.collisionreporting.gov.uk 
			 Supplier portal http://dft.g2b.info 
			 Within Reach http://www.within-reach.org.uk 
			 (1) Bike for All is only part funded—50 per cent.

EC Transport Policy

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which division of his Department is leading engagement with EU authorities to establish a cross-border data sharing process for criminal and administrative matters.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department's Europe and International Division has responsibility for co-ordinating UK policy on cross-border enforcement of traffic offences.

Exhaust Emissions: EC Action

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department's position is on the EU proposals to limit car emissions to 130 g of carbon dioxide per km by 2012.

Stephen Ladyman: We agree with the European Commission's conclusion that legislation on car efficiency is necessary. The target should be challenging but achievable. A target for average new car tailpipe CO2 emissions of 130 g/km is, in principle, around the right level. But more work will be necessary to examine the feasibility and impacts of this target (including full impact assessments and consultation) before making any final decisions. Similarly, there will need to be careful consideration of how the target should be structured. We will continue to engage actively in discussions at the EU level, and we will also be calling on the European Commission to develop longer term targets in order to give the car industry greater certainty.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate  (a) the number of cars registered in a non-EU or non-EEA country being used on the roads in the United Kingdom and  (b) the number of such vehicles which have been so used for more than 12 months.

Stephen Ladyman: Foreign registered vehicles that are temporarily brought into the United Kingdom by overseas residents are usually exempt from UK registration and licensing. The exemptions state that a vehicle which is properly registered and taxed in its home country may be used by the visitor for up to six months in 12 without being subject to domestic registration and licensing requirements.
	Any vehicle used in this country for more than six months in any 12 has to be registered and licensed in the normal way.
	There is therefore no means to estimate the number of foreign registered vehicles which may be in circulation in the United Kingdom at any one time.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many foreign registered vehicles entered the UK in each of the last 15 years, broken down by port of entry.

Stephen Ladyman: This Department does not hold the information requested.

Motorway Service Areas

Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to bring to a conclusion the review of policy for service areas and other roadside facilities on motorways and all purpose trunk roads in England; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when he expects the Highways Agency to report to him on draft revised guidance following the consultation on policy for service areas and other roadside facilities on motorways and all purpose trunk roads in England;
	(3)  how long he expects the consultation period to be for the revised proposals on policy for service areas and other roadside facilities on motorways and all purpose trunk roads in England; and when he expects to issue final policy guidance on these matters;
	(4)  what the final timetable is for the completion of the remaining stages of the review of policy for service areas and other roadside facilities on motorways and all purpose trunk roads in England.

Stephen Ladyman: A 12-week public consultation on 'The Review of Policy for Service Areas and other Roadside Facilities on Motorways and All Purpose Trunk Roads' was launched on 16 November 2006 and ended on 8 February 2007.
	The Highways Agency is now preparing a report of the responses to this initial consultation and expects to publish it by Easter. A draft policy will then be produced which will be subject to a further six-week public consultation in line with Cabinet Office guidelines.
	The aim is to publish the final policy by the autumn.

Motorway Service Areas

Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the reasons are for the time taken to undertake the Highways Agency's consultation on policy for service areas and other roadside facilities on motorways and all purpose trunk roads in England.

Stephen Ladyman: In line with Cabinet Office guidance, the Highways Agency was obliged to consult fully with relevant stakeholders, collect sufficient evidence and to analyse this in order to produce a draft revised policy for further public consultation.

Parking Offences: Schools

Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to enforce the parking restrictions on zig-zag markings outside schools.

Gillian Merron: Local authorities have the power under the Road Traffic Act 1984 to make Traffic Regulation Orders that, among other things, put in place parking restrictions such as zig-zag markings outside schools. Where a local authority has Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE) power it may enforce a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO). Otherwise it is for the police to enforce.

Public Transport: Greater London

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the role of his Department is in respect of the London Works project; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Government welcome the development by Transport for London of London Works to assist London's highway authorities in the management of works in the highway across London. The Department for Transport has had no role in its development.

Public Transport: Security

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department has taken to improve security on  (a) underground trains,  (b) overland trains,  (c) rail terminals and  (d) bus terminals since 2005.

Tom Harris: The Department is security regulator for transport industries including the rail network in Great Britain and the London underground. We maintain a risk-driven protective security regime based on assessments of the terrorist threat prepared by the Security Service.
	The London attacks in July 2005 necessitated the raising of security measures to their highest level, with a package of supplementary measures deployed by rail and underground operators. In response to the London attacks we also developed, in consultation with industry and the police, specific best practice guidance for the bus and coach sector.
	The situation is kept under constant review to ensure that measures remain relevant. We also continue to look at what further practical measures can be taken to protect transport targets.
	It is not appropriate to discuss the specific details of our current or any potential future counter-terrorist security measures on public transport to avoid potentially compromising their effectiveness. However, it is important to remember that our rail and underground networks, and bus services, are open systems and it is therefore impracticable to impose the sort of security regimes seen at our airports.

Public Transport: Security

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding his Department has made available to  (a) Network Rail,  (b) Transport for London and  (c) British Transport Police to improve transport security since 2005.

Tom Harris: The Strategic Rail Authority provided Network Rail with £16.5 million for the capital costs of the London major stations CCTV upgrade. The upgrade comprised the provision of digital recording systems and the replacement of analogue camera systems with digital ones.
	Transport for London (TfL) is funded via a block grant and for 2006-07 this will be a total £2.38 billion, a rise of over £700 million from 2003-04. Within this grant it is an operational decision for TfL to determine funding for security.
	Most of the funding BTP receives is from the rail industry; however, the DfT provides capital funding. The capital funding BTP received from DfT in 2005-06 and 2006-07 amounted to £12.5 million and £10 million respectively. In addition to this the Department provided £3.6 million as a contribution to the costs of dealing with the London bombings in July 2005. This money was used to fund a variety of capital developments and improvements such as communications and information systems, fleet replacement and modernisation and accommodation improvements. All of this expenditure improved the capacity of BTP to detect and prevent crime and to improve the security and safety of the railways.

Rail Link: Penrith-Keswick

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made with his consideration of plans for a new railway line between Penrith and Keswick in Cumbria; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Harris: The Department for Transport has not, to my knowledge, received a business case in relation to this proposal. Without a business case it is not possible to consider the proposal or make any kind of statement. The business case would need to detail the scheme and the proposed sources of funding and demonstrate that it offered value for money.

Railways: Greater London

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with the Mayor of London on London rail services.

Tom Harris: The Secretary of State and the Mayor spoke about London rail services on 21 March in the context of discussions regarding the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007.

Railways: Passengers

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the expected change in train passenger numbers over the next 10 years is; and what steps his Department plans to take to deal with increases in such estimates.

Tom Harris: The Department for Transport is in the course of assessing the future volume of train passenger numbers as part of the analysis underpinning the forthcoming High Level Output Specification, which will specify the improvements that the Secretary of State wishes to secure over the period 2009-14.

Railways: Portsmouth

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the recent disruption to the rail network in the Portsmouth area.

Tom Harris: Stagecoach South Western has had detailed discussions with Network Rail regarding the continued engineering overrun in the Portsmouth area.
	Stagecoach South Western has made changes to its timetable to ensure that it is able to maintain the best service given the restrictions to access.
	This also applies to Southern and First Great Western regarding their services in the Portsmouth area.

Railways: South East Region

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the strategy for reducing overcrowding on trains in the South East is; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Harris: The Government will continue to take steps to increase the capacity of the railways through the franchising process, and through the High Level Output Specification (HLOS) and the longer term strategy framework, both of which will be published this summer 2007.
	Additional capacity can be provided in a number of different ways and the rail industry will respond to the HLOS in October 2007 with proposals for optimum interventions tailored to specific routes.

Railways: Thames Valley

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1455W, on Railways: Thames Valley, on what basis future likely passenger demand is being assessed; what methods are being used to derive these figures; and whether data for the work are being derived from passenger surveys.

Tom Harris: Passenger demand forecasts for the railway are derived from industry standard forecasting tools which draw upon forecasts of population and employment changes, economic growth and other related factors. Demand data upon which future forecasts are based are derived from analysis of ticket sales and passenger counts and surveys, such as the London Area Travel Surveys (LATS).

Railways: Timetables

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether Network Rail has a statutory duty to publish a national rail timetable in hard copy.

Tom Harris: Network Rail's network licence places an obligation on it to "publish or procure the publication of a national timetable of railway passenger services".
	Network Rail currently discharges this obligation by producing a national rail timetable in A5 format.
	Any decision to change the content, publication and distribution of the national rail timetable is the responsibility of Network Rail.
	The hon. Member should contact Network Rail's chief executive at the following address for an answer to her question:
	John Armitt
	Chief Executive
	Network Rail
	40 Melton street,
	London
	NW1 2EE

Rapid Transit Systems

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the development of ultra-light rail systems in new sustainable communities.

Tom Harris: Department for Transport Ministers regularly meet with ministerial colleagues in the course of performing their ministerial duties. It is not the normal practice of the Government to release details of meetings.

Renault Cars

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many representations have been received by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency requesting the recall of Renault Clio/Campus cars in relation to concerns about design of the bonnet catch mechanism; and what steps are being taken;
	(2)  whether his Department plans to investigate reports of a design fault to the bonnet mechanism of Renault Clios manufactured between 1998 and 2005.

Stephen Ladyman: The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) has received two requests to recall Renault Clio II vehicles to address concerns about the bonnet catches.
	VOSA has checked both the main catch and the safety catch of Renault Clio II vehicles and has found no evidence of a design or construction defect. The evidence indicates that any problems are most likely to be due to inadequate maintenance and incorrect closing of the bonnet.
	We understand that Renault has nevertheless agreed to contact all Renault Clio II customers as soon as is practicable inviting them to have a free check carried out at their nearest Renault dealership. We also understand that where poor maintenance is detected—and the bonnet catch mechanism has suffered resulting damage—Renault will replace the mechanism free of charge as a gesture of good will.

Road Charging

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1456W, on tolls, whether a  (a) privacy impact assessment and  (b) regulatory impact assessment has been produced on the implementation of EU Directive 2004/52/EC.

Stephen Ladyman: A regulatory impact assessment has been produced and will be published on the Department for Transport website shortly. The parts of this directive that have been transposed into UK law are about technology and have no impact on privacy. The aspects of the Directive concerning the European Electronic Tolling Service, or EETS, have yet to be defined by the European Commission.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library the most recent appraisal summary table for each road scheme in the targeted programme of improvements.

Stephen Ladyman: I have arranged for appraisal summary tables for each road scheme in the targeted programme of improvements to be placed in the House Library.

Street Clutter

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps are being taken to reduce street clutter erected by local highway authorities.

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport recognises that over-provision or poor design of signs and street furniture can lead to clutter. We therefore encourage local authorities to avoid unnecessary street clutter through our Local Transport Plan guidance and through the design guidance we provide. Guidance on minimising clutter is given in the Traffic Signs Manual and in the "Streets for All" guides produced with English Heritage.
	We are strengthening our guidance in new publications such as the Manual for Streets, which will encourage a fresh approach to residential street design; good practice guidance on the use of pedestrian guardrails; and guidance on how to reduce the impact of traffic management measures on the street scene.

Trains: Bicycles

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on the provision of reasonable facilities for cyclists on board new railway and light rail and tram rolling stock and at stations.

Tom Harris: The responsibility for the design of new rolling stock and the carriage of bikes on trains rests with individual train operating companies (TOCs). All TOCs currently carry folding bikes on trains at all times and the Government encourage TOCs to carry non-folding bikes whenever possible. Non-folding bikes are not carried on light rail services.
	We also encourage all train operators to provide secure cycle parking at stations in 2004-05. DfT funded a Strategic Rail Authority project to provide an additional 2,500 cycle parking spaces with shelters and CCTV at over 100 stations as part of a project to improve cycle parking capacity on the rail network.
	We have asked Cycling England, our advisory body on cycling to report on ways to better integrate bike and rail travel. It is due to report later this year.

Transport: Schools

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance he provides on school travel plans; and what resources are available from his Department for implementing the guidance.

Gillian Merron: Guidance on the development and implementation of school travel plans was included in 'Travelling to School: a good practice guide', published by the Department for Transport in September 2003. Additional guidance is provided by school travel advisers and regional school travel advisers.
	As part of the 'Travelling to School' project, the Department for Transport and Department for Education and Skills are providing £7.5 million a year joint funding to local authorities to enable them to employ a network of around 250 school travel advisers, who work with schools to help them develop and implement school travel plans. The school travel advisers are supported by regional school travel advisers.
	In addition, DfES is providing up to £20 million a year for small capital grants for schools with approved school travel plans (£5,000 for a typical primary and £10,000 for a typical secondary school).

Transport: Urban Areas

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the comparative safety record of the operation of lightweight trams, light rail and buses in urban areas.

Tom Harris: The Government annually record and publish information concerning safety incidents in relation to the operation of lightweight trams, light rail and buses.
	For specific public transport schemes for which departmental funding is required, safety issues are also integral to the New Approach To Appraisal (NATA) process when assessing the benefits of the proposal.

SCOTLAND

Budget

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the First Minister on the impact of the Budget on Scotland.

Douglas Alexander: I have regular discussions with the First Minister on a range of issues. My right hon. Friend's Budget last week is a good Budget for Scotland and a good Budget for all of the UK. It tackles our long-term challenges and has been welcomed publicly by key Scottish industries.

Budget

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the Treasury following the latest Budget statement as it affects Scotland.

Douglas Alexander: I have regular discussions with Treasury Ministers on a range of issues.

Post Office Network

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on the future of the post office network in Scotland.

David Cairns: My right hon. Friend and I have regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on a range of issues.

Post Office Network

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on the future of the post office network in Scotland.

David Cairns: My right hon. Friend and I have regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on a range of issues.

Economic Activity

John McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what his latest assessment is of the level of economic activity in Scotland.

David Cairns: The most recent data from the Office of National Statistics showed the economic activity rate to be 80.3 per cent.—a record high. This means that not only are there more people in work in Scotland today than ever before, but also there are more people seeking to join the labour force.

Economic Activity

David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss the economic performance of Scotland.

Douglas Alexander: I have regular meetings with my right hon. Friend to discuss a range of issues. The Scottish economy is currently growing at above the long-term trend rate, record numbers of people are employed and more people are participating in the labour market than ever before.

Financial Services

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he has taken to secure the long-term future of the financial services sector in Scotland.

Douglas Alexander: My right hon. Friend's decision to cut corporation tax directly addresses the concerns raised by the financial services sector when I have met them recently. Furthermore, recognising the significance of the sector in Scotland, the Chancellor invited me to join his high-level group on financial services. I am now currently working with the industry preparing a paper for the Chancellor's Group on what more can be done to support financial services in Scotland and win new investment and jobs.

New Deal

James McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the new deal in Scotland.

David Cairns: Since 1997 employment in Scotland is up by over 246,000, long-term claimant unemployment is close to its lowest for 30 years and long-term youth unemployment has been significantly reduced.
	The new deal in Scotland has contributed to this success by helping more than 200,000 people into work.

Manufacturing Exports

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met the First Minister to discuss manufacturing exports from Scotland.

Douglas Alexander: I have regular meetings with the First Minister where a range of issues are discussed. Scottish Executive data show that 2006 saw an annual increase in manufactured exports—the first increase in five years.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

British Food

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of food served in  (a) buildings occupied by his Department and  (b) schools in England and Wales was of British origin in (i) 2005 and (ii) 2006.

Parmjit Dhanda: The information requested is not held by the Department.

Children In Care

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the commissioning process is for looked-after children services, with particular reference to the length of contract and conditions for renewal; what the conditions for the tendering process are; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Department does not mandate a single commissioning process for looked-after children services. Each top tier local authority operates a commissioning process in accordance with their standing orders, any relevant European procurement requirements and their obligations in the Children Act 1989. Issues such as length of contract, conditions for renewal and tendering processes are therefore at local authority discretion.
	The Department has, however, taken steps to support better commissioning across the whole of children's services. These include publishing the "Joint Planning and Commissioning Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services", supporting a working group led by local authorities and provider organisations developing standardised national contracts for independent and non-maintained special schools and residential care, and developing children in care regional commissioning pilots, which will support local authorities by making available a choice of placements for each child, leaving final decisions about individual placements in the hands of social workers, in discussion with children themselves.

Children: Day Care

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many  (a) private, voluntary and independent and  (b) state sector child care places closed in each year since 1997.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 8 March 2007
	The information requested about child care places broken down by sector is not available.
	The following table provides information for all types of day care provider.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of child care plac es that have closed 2004- 06, England 
			   Places 
			   2003/04  2004/05  2005/06  March  to December 2006 
			 Closed 128,400 200,800 144,600 128,200 
			 Childminders 50,400 63,000 44,800 37,900 
			 Full daycare 38,500 65,600 48,700 41,800 
			 Out of school 39,500 72,200 51,100 48,500 
			  Source: Ofsted. 
		
	
	Ofsted data on closures include registered places in settings which are transferring ownership, and in settings which move from one Ofsted category to another, not just in those which are ceasing trading.
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of child  care places that have opened 2004-06, England 
			   Places 
			   2003/04  2004/05  2005/06  March to December 2006 
			 Opened 238,600 254,100 214,800 157,400 
			 Childminders 62,800 53,000 48,800 37,000 
			 Full daycare 98,600 117,600 90,900 68,400 
			 Out of school 77,200 83,500 75,200 52,000 
			  Source: Ofsted. 
		
	
	Ofsted has also produced figures on the numbers of registered child care providers and places on a quarterly basis from March 2003. Its latest figures were published in its report "Registered Childcare Providers and Places, December 2006", which is available on its website, www.Ofsted.gov.uk/.
	As these two tables show, there have been substantial net increases in child care places over this period.

Curriculum Review

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what terms of reference were set by his Department for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in relation to the secondary curriculum review.

Jim Knight: The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority was asked to undertake a review of the key stage 3 curriculum to enable schools to have the flexibility to meet better students' individual needs and strengths. It was asked to review the content of all core and foundation subjects and to focus in particular on those subjects that were content heavy, namely history, geography, science, design and technology, citizenship and the non-statutory framework for personal, social and health education. QCA was also asked to consider the implications on key stage 3 English, mathematics and ICT of the review of these subjects at key stage 4, including the definition of functional skills.

Curriculum: Languages

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which foreign languages were studied by pupils in Tamworth constituency at  (a) GCSE level,  (b) A/S level and  (c) A-level in 2006.

Jim Knight: The information requested is as follows:
	 (a) Pupils at the end of key stage 4 attending secondary schools located in Tamworth constituency were entered for GCSEs in the following modern foreign languages:
	French;
	German;
	Spanish;
	Modern Greek;
	Chinese.
	 (b) Students aged 16 to 18 attending secondary schools and further education sector colleges located in Tamworth constituency in 2006 were entered for GCE AS-levels in the following modern foreign languages:
	French;
	German;
	Italian.
	 (c) Students aged 16 to 18 attending schools and further education sector colleges located in Tamworth constituency in 2006 were entered for GCE A-levels in the following modern foreign languages:
	French;
	German;
	Chinese.

Educational Psychologists

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the supply of educational psychologists.

Parmjit Dhanda: Educational psychologists (EPs) are employed by local authorities, and it is for those authorities to determine how many to employ in light of their assessment of local needs and available resources, and to plan for future needs. The Department does not undertake any manpower planning assessment for this group of local employees.
	The full-time equivalent number of EPs in post in local authorities in England, as at January 2006, was 2,200, with 109 full-time vacancies.

Employer Training Pilots

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2006,  Official Report, column 1498W, which companies have signed Train to Gain contracts; how many staff each company employs; and how many of these staff will receive Train to Gain funded training.

Phil Hope: Train to Gain is a new service aimed at supporting businesses in improving their productivity through increased investment in the skills of their workforce. Skills brokers conduct an organisational needs analysis to understand the problems facing the company. They then source the most appropriate training provider to meet that needs analysis giving the employer a real choice in the selection of the training provider. Skills brokers then help the company put together a fully costed action plan, setting out the likely levels of public subsidy together with any investment from the employer. Employers do not sign a contract but do enter into a non-contractual agreement setting out their commitment to the delivery of the action plan. By the end of January 2007, more than 25,000 employers have engaged with Train to Gain with more than 90,000 employees starting on a course of training.

Higher Education: Student Numbers

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many UK-domiciled students were studying for a  (a) full-time and  (b) part-time undergraduate degree in each British university in 2006, broken down by income decile of their parents.

Bill Rammell: Data on the number of UK domiciled students at each British university are not available broken down by parental income.

Information and Communications Technology: Employment

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the percentage of IT degree graduates who went into careers in IT in  (a) 2005 and  (b) 2006.

Bill Rammell: The available information on the destination of graduates is taken from the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey collected annually by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). The DLHE survey collects information on the first destination of graduates six months after qualifying. The latest figures are shown in the table for students qualifying in the 2004/05 academic year. Figures for the destinations of students qualifying in the 2005/06 academic year will be available in summer 2007. The table shows that, of those computer science graduates in employment, 3,200 or 41.6 per cent. of them were working in an IT occupation.
	
		
			  Destination and type of work of first degree computer science graduates( 1)  from the UK six months after graduation, English higher education institutions academic year 2004/05 
			  Employment circumstances  Number  Proportion( 2) 
			 In work(3) 7,695 73.8 
			  Of which:   
			 Information and communication technology professionals 2,265 29.5 
			 IT service delivery occupations 935 72.2 
			 Total IT occupations 3,200 41.6 
			
			 Further study only 1,085 10.4 
			 Assumed to be unemployed 1,120 10.7 
			 Not available for employment 390 3.8 
			 Other 140 1.3 
			 Total known 10,425 100.0 
			 Explicit refusal 330 — 
			 Total 10,760 — 
			 (1) The response rate for this questionnaire for computer science graduates was 77 per cent.; the figures cover students qualifying from full-time and part-time modes of study.  (2) Employment circumstance as a proportion of all known circumstances.  (3) Includes all employment circumstances that cover some form of work: full-time paid work only (including self-employed), part-time paid work only, voluntary/unpaid work only, and work and further study.   Note:  Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5.   Source:  Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Language and Literacy

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what support is provided to early years providers and primary schools to ensure an effective transition for children from the Foundation Stage to the National Curriculum for  (a) speech, language and communication and  (b) reading and literacy; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of the recommendations made by Ofsted in its report "The Foundation Stage" on  (a) guidance on (i) raising standards in communication, language and literacy, (ii) supporting the achievement of boys and (iii) providing effective challenge for more able children and  (b) training by local authorities on improving the links between communication, language and literacy and other areas of learning; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what support his Department provides to assist staff working in early years settings to raise standards in the provision of support to children for communication, language and literacy needs; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The Government welcome the recent Ofsted report and accept many of the recommendations. Evidence in this report was collected before the launch last September of the new programme of high quality phonics work to address the findings of Jim Rose's review of early reading. We are confident that this programme will deliver higher standards of communication, language and literacy skills.
	The "Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage" already makes it clear that practitioners should plan a curriculum that helps all children to make good progress towards the early learning goals and, where appropriate, beyond. The Department has reinforced this by producing guidance on the identification of gifted and talented children and by asking the Primary National Strategy to produce guidance on better support for boys' learning. The "Early Years Foundation Stage" (EYFS) which takes effect in September 2008 and replaces the Foundation Stage guidance will set out equally clear expectations for all children.
	The Department has produced a training package, "Communicating Matters", to help local authorities to support staff working in early years settings to raise standards in communication and language. In addition, the Primary National Strategy will shortly publish a new document to replace "Progression in Phonics" and "Playing with Sounds" which will support effective phonics teaching from the EYFS through to the end of key stage 1. Training and briefing for practitioners emphasises the links and interdependencies between all the areas of learning and development.
	The EYFS and the "Primary Framework for literacy and mathematics" which support planning progression and personalisation of learning have been developed in parallel, with relevant sections of each mirroring the other to ensure that there is continuity between the EYFS and key stage 1. In conjunction with the Primary National Strategy, the Department has also produced guidance on the importance of providing continuity of experience for young children and their families.

Languages: Education

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the standard of difficulty of modern language  (a) GCSEs and  (b) A-levels.

Jim Knight: There has been no recent assessment of the standard of difficulty of modern language  (a) GCSEs and  (b) A-levels. However, Lord Dearing's Languages Review, published on 12 March, considers the view that languages GCSEs are more demanding than other subjects, and that this perception has a negative impact on the number of pupils continuing to study languages post-14. He recommends that there is a study to resolve this issue as soon as possible. The Secretary of State has welcomed Lord Dearing's recommendations and we are considering how to take this recommendation forward.

Ofsted

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many members of staff of Ofsted have made formal complaints of bullying in the last 12 months;
	(2)  how many grievances were raised by staff at Ofsted in each of the last three years;
	(3)  how much Ofsted spent on  (a) in-house training and  (b) external training in each of the last three years;
	(4)  what the total cost of consultants employed by Ofsted was in each of the last three years;
	(5)  how many consultants were contracted to work for Ofsted in each of the last three years.

Jim Knight: holding answer 15 March 2007
	These matters are for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to my hon. Friend and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 15 March 2007:
	Your recent parliamentary questions have been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply. I will address these in turn:
	I. You asked how many members of staff have made formal complaints of bullying in the last 12 months (PQ127625).
	Of the 20 grievances raised between February 2006 and February 2007, four have related to "bullying and harassment". Of these, two have been heard and the grievance was not upheld, in one case the individual resigned before the hearing took place and a decision is pending on the fourth. This compares to seven complaints of bullying and harassment in 2004-2005; two in 2003-2004 and one in 2002-2003.
	The increase in the number of complaints has partly been due to a revised bullying and harassment policy and initiatives implemented following Ofeted's 2004 staff survey results. These raised awareness of this issue and encouraged individuals to come forward with concerns they had. This issue remains a priority for Ofsted.
	II. You asked how many grievances have been raised by staff at Ofsted in each of the last three years (PQ127626).
	Until fairly recently, Ofsted has not kept records of all types of grievance. Those relating to bullying and harassment are on file as these are reported in our equal opportunities reports. Ofsted started collecting general grievance data as of November 2005 and our data therefore reflects this period onwards.
	From the data we hold, we are able to report that, over the last 16 months, we have 22 grievances in total from members of staff (this figure includes the 20 grievances noted in response to PQ127625). Four of these were from the same individual, one was a collective grievance (from four members of staff) and the others were all individual one-off grievances.
	III You asked how much Ofsted spent on (a) in-house training and (b) external training in each of the last three years (PQ127627).
	The following internal costs (rounded to the nearest £5k) include a programme of courses that have been developed specifically for an Ofsted audience; these include management development, IT skills and nationally supported qualifications such as specialist degrees. They also include the cost of our corporate learning and development team:
	
		
			   £ 
			   Internal  External  Total 
			 2004-05 1,585,000 1,135,000 2,720,000 
			 2005-06 1,645,000 930,000 2,575,000 
			 2006-07 1,540,000 560,000 2,100,000 
		
	
	IV. You asked what the total cost of consultants employed by Ofsted was in each of the last three years (PQ127628) and how many consultants have been contracted to work for Ofsted in each of the last three years (PQ127629).
	Based on the DfES definition of consultancy services, which is "investigating problems, providing analysis or advice, or assisting with the development of new systems, new structures or new capabilities within the organisation", we will have spent around £2.5 million (including VAT) in the financial year 2006-07. This spend is through 42 consultants.
	Within this total around three quarters is for Information Services related consultancy to build new systems ready for the creation of the New Ofsted with effect from 1 April 2007. The remainder covers other corporate areas such as estates, personnel and finance.
	Due to the way in which Ofsted has previously prepared our accounts, this is the only year for which a separately identifiable consultancy figure is available.
	A copy of these replies have been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.

Pupil Referral Units

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of pupils left pupil referral units to enter  (a) special schools and  (b) mainstream schools in each year between 1997 and 2006, broken down by local authority.

Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Pupil Referral Units

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of pupils at pupil referral units were issued with a national record of achievement in each year between 1997 and 2006, broken down by local authority.

Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected centrally.
	Both the national record of achievement (NRA) and its successor, Progress File, were made available on a voluntary basis. While over 70 per cent. of secondary schools and many colleges ordered Progress File materials, our distribution records do not distinguish pupil referral units from other educational establishments.

Pupil Referral Units

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils at pupil referral units there were with pupils numbers of  (a) under five,  (b) between five to 10,  (c) between 10 to 20,  (d) between 20 to 30,  (e) between 30 to 40,  (f) between 40 to 50,  (g) between 50 to 80,  (h) between 80 to 100 and (i) over 100 in each year between 1997 and 2006.

Jim Knight: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Pupil referral u nits:  Number of schools by size and number of p upils( 1) , 1997-2006,  position in January each y ear, England 
			   Under 5 pupils  5 to 10 pupils  11 to 20 pupils  21 to 30 pupils  31 to 40 pupils 
			   Schools  Pupils  Schools  Pupils  Schools  Pupils  Schools  Pupils  Schools  Pupils 
			 1997 73 76 46 331 79 1,202 40 1,000 26 932 
			 1998 82 103 37 284 70 1,083 43 1,073 26 908 
			 1999 68 88 44 324 65 1,014 34 853 29 1,013 
			 2000 69 93 28 229 63 952 45 1,094 28 986 
			 2001 67 102 40 300 67 1,053 52 1,331 23 804 
			 2002 66 98 37 278 72 1,085 45 1,100 19 651 
			 2003 66 79 55 393 77 1,130 48 1,188 28 1,000 
			 2004 101 155 66 482 84 1,284 52 1,281 23 823 
			 2005 103 134 72 526 83 1,268 48 1,197 43 1,491 
			 2006 117 161 47 358 81 1,223 64 1,620 25 870 
		
	
	
		
			   41 to 50 pupils  51 to 80 pupils  81 to 100 pupils  Over 100 pupils  Total 
			   Schools  Pupils  Schools  Pupils  Schools  Pupils  Schools  Pupils  Schools  Pupils 
			 1997 13 583 15 954 6 529 11 1,923 309 7,530 
			 1998 14 617 21 1,310 3 272 13 2,090 309 7,740 
			 1999 15 669 24 1,493 7 605 12 2,204 298 8,263 
			 2000 13 576 28 1,686 8 695 13 2,168 295 8,479 
			 2001 13 580 16 1,076 10 900 20 3,143 308 9,289 
			 2002 13 591 27 1,705 8 730 25 3,718 312 9,956 
			 2003 18 822 28 1,777 8 725 32 4,891 360 12,005 
			 2004 25 1,149 33 2,059 8 711 34 5,094 426 13,038 
			 2005 19 857 30 1,832 16 1,482 33 5,685 447 14,472 
			 2006 25 1,113 38 2,480 14 1,246 38 6,169 449 15,240 
			 (1 )Excludes dually registered pupils. Includes pupils with other providers.   Source:  Schools Census.

Pupil Referral Units

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupil referral units there were in each year between 1997 and 2006, broken down by local authority.

Jim Knight: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Pupils: Antisocial Behaviour

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what additional revenue support has been allocated in 2006-07 to assist children in mainstream schools with severe behavioural problems.

Jim Knight: Information on additional revenue support to assist children in mainstream schools with severe behavioural problems is not collected centrally.
	In 2006-07, for the first time, schools received their funding from a Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) rather than as part of the local government settlement. The DSG is a ring-fenced grant and must be used for schools' budgets. It is for each local authority to distribute funding using a locally agreed formula, and for schools' governing bodies to decide how to spend the available resources.

Pupils: Clothing

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of Muslim schoolgirls who wear a veil at school.

Jim Knight: The Department has not made any estimate of the number of Muslim schoolgirls wearing a veil at school.

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the contribution of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority futures initiative to the secondary curriculum review.

Jim Knight: The information gathered from the futures initiative through consultation with stakeholders, such as employers, subject associations, head teachers and young people, helped to inform QCA's proposals for the secondary curriculum review.

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will place in the Library copies of advice sent to  (a) him and  (b) other Ministers by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority since 14 December 2006.

Jim Knight: There is an agreed protocol for publishing advice to Ministers from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. Any such advice since 14 December 2006 and during the first four months of 2007 is due to be published on the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's website in June 2007.
	I will write to the hon. Member when the advice is published.

School Sports

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding his Department made available for school sports facilities in  (a) Tamworth and  (b) England in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: Data at the level requested are not held centrally. The capital funding for investment in school buildings—including sports facilities—is set out in the following table:
	
		
			   England (£ billion)  Staffordshire( 1)  (£ million) 
			 2002-03 3.3 32.9 
			 2003-04 4.2 35.5 
			 2004-05 4.9 41.1 
			 2005-06 5.6 29.2 
			 2006-07 5.9 41.2 
			 (1 )Where the majority of Tamworth schools are located

Schools: Location

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 11-year-olds have no secondary school within two miles of their home; and how their interests will be taken into account under the guidance of the new Schools Admission Code.

Jim Knight: The percentage of 11-year-olds with no secondary school within two miles of their home is given in the following table. These distances are measured as a straight line between home and school.
	
		
			  Percentage of 11-year-olds( 1)  with no secondary( 2)  school within two miles of their home—2006 
			   Pupils 
			 Total number of 11-year-old pupils 557,151 
			 Number of 11-year-old pupils with unknown residence 2,251 
			 Number of 11-year-old pupils with no suitable secondary school within two miles of their home 51,483 
			 Percentage of 11-year-old pupils with no suitable secondary school within two miles of their home 9.2 
			 (1) Pupils aged 11 on 31 August 2005. (2) Includes maintained secondary, middle deemed secondary, city technology colleges and academies.  Source: School Census, January 2006 
		
	
	The new School Admissions Code rules out the use of unfair admission criteria, and encourages admission authorities for schools to consider how they can ensure fair access to schools for all children in their area. Local authorities must provide free home-to-school transport for secondary pupils attending their nearest suitable school where the school is beyond the statutory walking distance of three miles.
	The Education and Inspections Act 2006 extends rights to free home-to-school transport to a choice of three maintained schools and academies for children from low-income families (defined as those whose children are entitled to free school meals or who are in receipt of their maximum level of working tax credit) where they live between two and six miles from their chosen school. This will remove the lack of affordable transport as a barrier to choice for these families.

Schools: Transport

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total central funding to local authorities, via all mechanisms, for school transport is in 2006-07; how much central funding each local authority has received for school transport; what total sum has been spent by local authorities and central Government on school transport; and how much revenue has been raised from parental contribution to defray the cost of school transport in each local authority area.

Jim Knight: This question has been passed to the Department as it has responsibility for collecting information from local authorities about school transport expenditure.
	Central funding of local authorities for home-to-school transport is included within formula grant. This can be used on a range of services provided by authorities, and the way in which it is calculated does not make it possible to say that a certain amount is for school transport costs.
	Local authorities submit financial information to the Department;
	1. specifying their planned expenditure on school transport, and
	2. after the financial year has ended to show the actual expenditure.
	For 2006-07 the total planned expenditure on school transport by local authorities in England is £889,101,657. Anticipated income is £9,502,934 which includes, but may not be entirely made up of, parental contributions. The table provided shows the information broken down by individual local authority.
	It is not possible to supply the actual amounts spent and raised in 2006-07 as this data will not be supplied to the Department until later this year.
	
		
			  The Education (Budget Statements) (England) Regulations 2006.  Planned expenditure on school transport  for the 2006-07 financial year.  Cash terms figures as reported by local authorities as at 23 March 2007 
			  £ 
			Total planned expenditure on home to school transport( 1) 
			  LEA number  Local authority name  Gross  Income  Net 
			 201 City of London 53,000 10,900 42,100 
			 202 Camden 2,374,749 0 2,374,749 
			 203 Greenwich 3,019,000 0 3,019,000 
			 204 Hackney 3,484,361 279,400 3,204,961 
			 205 Hammersmith and Fulham 2,148,823 0 2,148,823 
			 206 Islington 1,991,886 0 1,991,886 
			 207 Kensington and Chelsea 1,384,046 0 1,384,046 
			 208 Lambeth 3,463,970 0 3,463,970 
			 209 Lewisham 3,994,455 0 3,994,455 
			 210 Southwark 4,375,807 0 4,375,807 
			 211 Tower Hamlets 3,301,554 0 3,301,554 
			 212 Wandsworth 2,669,921 630 2,669,291 
			 213 Westminster 3,062,200 20,000 3,042,200 
			 301 Barking and Dagenham 1,926,000 0 1,926,000 
			 302 Barnet 5,317,139 0 5,317,139 
			 303 Bexley 2,598,000 0 2,598,000 
			 304 Brent 3,246,000 0 3,246,000 
			 305 Bromley 3,228,452 0 3,228,452 
			 306 Croydon 5,385,912 117,800 5,268,112 
			 307 Ealing 4,797,200 0 4,797,200 
			 308 Enfield 4,164,428 0 4,164,428 
			 309 Haringey 3,723,616 0 3,723,616 
			 310 Harrow 2,631,929 0 2,631,929 
			 311 Havering 1,307,580 0 1,307,580 
			 312 Hillingdon 3,961,772 0 3,961,772 
			 313 Hounslow 2,478,364 0 2,478,364 
			 314 Kingston upon Thames 2,106,735 0 2,106,735 
			 315 Merton 2,020,960 0 2,020,960 
			 316 Newham 2,958,500 0 2,958,500 
			 317 Redbridge 2,946,385 3,763 2,942,622 
			 318 Richmond upon Thames 1,885,200 0 1,885,200 
			 319 Sutton 2,561,359 0 2,561,359 
			 320 Waltham Forest 3,252,937 0 3,252,937 
			 330 Birmingham 13,472,497 0 13,472,497 
			 331 Coventry 2,935,099 40,027 2,895,072 
			 332 Dudley 2,011,105 0 2,011,105 
			 333 Sandwell 2,653,500 0 2,653,500 
			 334 Solihull 2,519,134 0 2,519,134 
			 335 Walsall 2,272,683 0 2,272,683 
			 336 Wolverhampton 3,049,500 0 3,049,500 
			 340 Knowsley 1,710,136 14,738 1,695,398 
			 341 Liverpool 4,796,058 0 4,796,058 
			 342 St. Helens 2,354,517 0 2,354,517 
			 343 Sefton 2,806,599 0 2,806,599 
			 344 Wirral 4,342,300 179,000 4,163,300 
			 350 Bolton 2,693,233 0 2,693,233 
			 351 Bury 1,847,800 55,200 1,792,600 
			 352 Manchester 8,704,688 8,000 8,696,688 
			 353 Oldham 1,914,490 0 1,914,490 
			 354 Rochdale 2,162,716 6,000 2,156,716 
			 355 Salford 1,987,810 0 1,987,810 
			 356 Stockport 2,955,589 0 2,955,589 
			 357 Tameside 1,365,000 0 1,365,000 
			 358 Trafford 3,391,096 171,500 3,219,596 
			 359 Wigan 3,588,946 0 3,588,946 
			 370 Barnsley 1,791,310 0 1,791,310 
			 371 Doncaster 3,967,058 0 3,967,058 
			 372 Rotherham 2,525,043 0 2,525,043 
			 373 Sheffield 5,293,119 99,158 5,193,961 
			 380 Bradford 7,285,216 0 7,285,216 
			 381 Calderdale 2,677,775 5,820 2,671,955 
			 382 Kirklees 3,252,400 0 3,252,400 
			 383 Leeds 8,001,610 0 8,001,610 
			 384 Wakefield 3,824,630 716,646 3,107,984 
			 390 Gateshead 1,573,058 150 1,572,908 
			 391 Newcastle upon Tyne 1,937,840 0 1,937,840 
			 392 North Tyneside 1,287,151 0 1,287,151 
			 393 South Tyneside 929,357 0 929,357 
			 394 Sunderland 2,182,441 0 2,182,441 
			 420 Isles of Scilly 28,500 0 28,500 
			 800 Bath and North East Somerset 3,609,556 45,914 3,563,642 
			 801 Bristol City of 5,967,908 15,888 5,952,020 
			 802 North Somerset 3,475,110 0 3,475,110 
			 803 South Gloucestershire 4,194,000 44,000 4,150,000 
			 805 Hartlepool 1,469,282 676 1,468,606 
			 806 Middlesbrough 1,983,713 0 1,983,713 
			 807 Redcar and Cleveland 1,694,148 50,600 1,643,548 
			 808 Stockton-on-Tees 2,726,816 0 2,726,816 
			 810 Kingston upon Hull City of 2,405,909 0 2,405,909 
			 811 East Riding of Yorkshire 9,676,910 11,900 9,665,010 
			 812 North East Lincolnshire 2,298,200 61,200 2,237,000 
			 813 North Lincolnshire 3,425,144 61,550 3,363,594 
			 815 North Yorkshire 18,139,577 175,266 17,964,311 
			 816 York 2,478,736 41,360 2,437,376 
			 820 Bedfordshire 12,344,268 0 12,344,268 
			 821 Luton 2,651,971 21,788 2,630,183 
			 825 Buckinghamshire 18,510,472 1,138,916 17,371,556 
			 826 Milton Keynes 3,414,436 56,460 3,357,976 
			 830 Derbyshire 12,042,648 42,420 12,000,228 
			 831 Derby 2,713,525 0 2,713,525 
			 835 Dorset 11,602,500 156,600 11,445,900 
			 836 Poole 1,678,150 0 1,678,150 
			 837 Bournemouth 1,221,895 270 1,221,625 
			 840 Durham 12,886,871 2,000 12,884,871 
			 841 Darlington 1,436,002 0 1,436,002 
			 845 East Sussex 8,491,982 75,000 8,416,982 
			 846 Brighton and Hove 2,739,619 21,000 2,718,619 
			 850 Hampshire 20,953,100 0 20,953,100 
			 851 Portsmouth 1,655,584 0 1,655,584 
			 852 Southampton 1,540,766 34,077 1,506,689 
			 855 Leicestershire 14,575,257 286,166 14,289,091 
			 856 Leicester 3,634,208 82,014 3,552,194 
			 857 Rutland 1,053,354 60,000 993,354 
			 860 Staffordshire 14,755,520 285,960 14,469,560 
			 861 Stoke-on-Trent 2,032,983 0 2,032,983 
			 865 Wiltshire 13,264,919 191,400 13,073,519 
			 866 Swindon 2,599,517 0 2,599,517 
			 867 Bracknell Forest 2,026,918 66,310 1,960,608 
			 868 Windsor and Maidenhead 2,290,003 61,810 2,228,193 
			 869 West Berkshire 3,352,631 61,100 3,291,531 
			 870 Reading 1,461,555 23,517 1,438,038 
			 871 Slough 1,959,971 32,500 1,927,471 
			 872 Wokingham 2,459,421 26,674 2,432,747 
			 873 Cambridgeshire 13,667,039 155,572 13,511,467 
			 874 Peterborough 2,956,606 687 2,955,919 
			 875 Cheshire 15,761,579 483,608 15,277,971 
			 876 Halton 1,244,950 0 1,244,950 
			 877 Warrington 3,007,702 0 3,007,702 
			 878 Devon 21,247,880 489,484 20,758,396 
			 879 Plymouth 2,990,654 8,056 2,982,598 
			 880 Torbay 1,914,890 68,100 1,846,790 
			 881 Essex 28,466,245 172,364 28,293,881 
			 882 Southend-on-Sea 2,077,877 2,050 2,075,827 
			 883 Thurrock 2,322,449 0 2,322,449 
			 884 Herefordshire 5,228,832 55,269 5,173,563 
			 885 Worcestershire 10,309,430 0 10,309,430 
			 886 Kent 34,582,220 440,000 34,142,220 
			 887 Medway 4,063,847 174,341 3,889,506 
			 888 Lancashire 25,342,295 0 25,342,295 
			 889 Blackburn with Darwen 2,034,546 0 2,034,546 
			 890 Blackpool 1,418,282 0 1,418,282 
			 891 Nottinghamshire 11,093,954 0 11,093,954 
			 892 Nottingham 2,308,899 0 2,308,899 
			 893 Shropshire 9,331,443 173,000 9,158,443 
			 894 Telford and Wrekin 2,672,411 0 2,672,411 
			 908 Cornwall 10,112,560 113,000 9,999,560 
			 909 Cumbria 12,476,234 36,000 12,440,234 
			 916 Gloucestershire 9,806,151 433,402 9,372,749 
			 919 Hertfordshire 22,310,243 1 22,310,242 
			 921 Isle of Wight 1,718,813 31,626 1,687,187 
			 925 Lincolnshire 28,205,890 0 28,205,890 
			 926 Norfolk 22,775,340 352,840 22,422,500 
			 928 Northamptonshire 11,580,560 40,000 11,540,560 
			 929 Northumberland 9,135,642 26,980 9,108,662 
			 931 Oxfordshire 15,544,370 558,486 14,985,884 
			 933 Somerset 12,107,700 450,000 11,657,700 
			 935 Suffolk 16,050,694 92,000 15,958,694 
			 936 Surrey 24,586,930 100,000 24,486,930 
			 937 Warwickshire 10,755,934 83,000 10,672,934 
			 938 West Sussex 13,082,267 0 13,082,267 
			 (1) Includes all elements of home-to-school transport for school pupils. This is drawn from local authorities Section 52 budget statements (Table 1 lines 1.2.6, 2.4.6 and 2.4.7)

Secondary Education: Curriculum

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 12 March 2007,  Official Report, column 36W, on secondary education: curriculum, whether he expects Ofsted to take into account non-statutory guidance accompanying the National Curriculum when inspecting a school.

Jim Knight: Ofsted inspectors are required by the framework for inspection to evaluate the extent to which learning programmes match learners' aspirations and potential, building on their prior attainment and experience, and how far the curriculum meets external requirements and is responsive to local circumstances. External requirements are those of the National Curriculum, but inspectors would also be aware of other guidance received by schools. The Chief Inspector will consider what if any additional advice needs to be provided to inspectors in the light of guidance issued to schools.

Secondary Education: Curriculum

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 12 March 2007,  Official Report, column 36W, on secondary education: curriculum 
	(1)  whether the regional events planned by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority will be open to the general public;
	(2)  how the regional events planned by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority will be publicised.

Jim Knight: The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's regional events are being run with local authorities and are designed for specific audiences. For example, two of the regional events will be for parents. Local authorities are hosting the events and it is they who are inviting delegates to attend. QCA will also be running seminars and exhibiting at the Education Show later this month which is widely attended by parents and teachers. All those with an interest in the consultation can complete the response form online at www.qca.org.uk/secondarycurriculumreview/.

Secondary Education: Curriculum

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 12 March 2007,  Official Report, column 36W, on secondary education: curriculum, what the purpose was of the visit of the Director of Curriculum to South Africa.

Jim Knight: The purpose of the visit of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's Director of Curriculum to South Africa was to inform them about the curriculum and qualifications in England, to learn more about their curriculum and to share examples of good practice. The visit was at the request of the Western Cape Education Department, who are interested in learning from our curriculum experience.

Secondary Education: Curriculum

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will place in the Library the  (a) agendas and  (b) minutes of meetings of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Secondary Curriculum Review External Committee.

Jim Knight: The Department has no plans to ask the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority to release the agendas and minutes of its Secondary Curriculum Review External Committee.

Secondments

Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which staff in his Department are  (a) seconded from organisations with charitable status and  (b) have (i) costs and (ii) salaries met (A) in part and (B) in whole from (1) public funds and (2) by the charity from which they are seconded.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Department currently has a total of 83 inward secondments the vast majority of which are from organisations in the wider public sector. The costs and salaries for inward secondments to the Department are met in full from public funds by the business unit engaging them.
	There is no current requirement on Departments to formally collect information on the status of organisations to determine whether they have charitable status.

Special Educational Needs

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will place in the Library a copy of the draft guidance on Planning and Developing Special Educational Provision issued for consultation on 8 March 2007.

Parmjit Dhanda: The information requested has been placed in the House Library.

Teachers: Primary Education

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students qualified to become primary school teachers in each of the last five years; and how many vacancies for primary school teachers there were that period.

Jim Knight: The numbers of primary trainee teachers gaining qualified teacher status (QTS) in academic years, 2000/01 to 2004/05, the latest year for which information is available, are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Primary teachers gaining qualified teacher status by academic year 
			   Number of teachers 
			 2000/01 10,540 
			 2001/02 10,720 
			 2002/03 11,930 
			 2003/04 12,470 
			 2004/05 12,690 
			  Notes: 1. Includes those trained through SCITTs, but excludes completers through employment based routes. 2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: Training and Development Agency's Performance Profiles 
		
	
	The numbers of vacancies for nursery and primary school teachers for January in years, 2001 to 2005 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Full-time vacancies in local authority maintained schools in England: January of each year 
			   Nursery and primary( 1,2) 
			 2001 2,110 
			 2002 1,800 
			 2003 1,110 
			 2004 780 
			 2005 740 
			 (1) The vacancies are only those available on the date of the survey in January. They are advertised vacancies for full-time permanent appointments of at least one-term duration and include those being covered on a temporary basis by a teacher with a contract of less than one term. (2) In January 2006, there were 710 vacancies in nursery and primary schools in England. However, the information on the number of trainee teachers gaining QTS for 2005/06 is yet to be published.  Source: 618g survey 
		
	
	The number of people to be trained to be teachers each year is calculated taking account of the forecast demand for teachers due to pupil numbers, teacher wastage, returnees and retirements and new curriculum pressures. This will inevitably be greater than the number of vacancies at the single point in January when vacancy statistics are counted. Most vacancies will be filled by schools as from the start of the academic year in September and therefore will not be shown as such at the single point in January when vacancy statistics are counted. The January figure is therefore a reflection of posts that are unfilled at that time, not of vacancies that have become available and been filled during the year.

Teaching Assistants: County Durham

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teaching assistants there are in County Durham; and how many there were in 1997.

Jim Knight: The following table provides the full-time equivalent number of teaching assistants employed in local authority maintained schools in the former County Durham local authority area in January 1997 and 2006.
	
		
			  Full-time equivalent teaching assistants in local authority maintained schools in former County Durham, Darlington and Durham, January 1997 and 2006 
			   1997  2006 
			 Former County Durham 640 — 
			 Darlington — 300 
			 Durham — 1,100 
			 Total 640 1,400 
			  Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: Annual School Census. 
		
	
	Durham and Darlington local authorities were created as separate local authorities with responsibilities for education on 1 April 1997. Prior to this date figures for Durham and Darlington were included in the former County Durham local authority area.

Third Sector Forum

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects the minutes of the Third Sector Forum for Children and Young People which took place on 22 January to be published; and what the reason is for the delay in the publication.

Parmjit Dhanda: The notes from the meetings of the DfES Third Sector Forum for Children and Young People's Services held on 22 January 2007 will be made public on 26 March. They will be found on the Every Child Matters website through the Strategy and Governance section on the Third Sector Forum page. The reason for the delay in the publication is administrative oversight.

Young People: Antisocial Behaviour

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of community sport and cultural activities funded by his Department in engaging young people most at risk of committing antisocial behaviour.

Jim Knight: Although the funding of community sport and cultural activities is primarily the concern of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, youth work providers do use sport and cultural activities in the process of working with young people—sometimes utilising funding issued by the DfES.
	The main DfES programme working in this way has been the Positive Activities for Young People programme (PAYP). Between April 2003 and March 2006 PAYP engaged 290,000 young people (85 per cent. of whom were classified as being 'at risk') in constructive leisure time activities. 47 per cent. of the activities were sport or arts based. The evaluation of PAYP found that the programme had achieved a range of positive outcomes for participating young people, including contributing to reductions in criminal and antisocial behaviour, supporting people back into education, and offering opportunities for personal development.

Young People: Antisocial Behaviour

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has undertaken of  (a) how far youth activities meet the demands of people and  (b) the impact on the provision of youth activities on preventing involvement in antisocial behaviour.

Jim Knight: The Youth Matters green paper (2005) set out a range of proposals for youth activities and support. The subsequent consultation drew a strong and positive response—including from over 19,000 young people.
	The Education and Inspection Act 2006 introduced a new duty on local authorities to secure young people's access to positive activities. The duty also requires local authorities to consult young people about local positive activities, including the need for new provision and any access issues, and to take these views into account.
	Activities for young people are one of the key elements of the Respect Action plan for tackling antisocial behaviour. Such youth activities contribute to the prevention of a range of negative outcomes, including involvement in antisocial behaviour. For example, the evaluation of the Positive Activities for Young People programme (PAYP) found that the programme had achieved a range of positive outcomes for participating young people, including contributing to reductions in criminal and antisocial behaviour, supporting people back into education, and offering opportunities for personal development.

Young People: Education and Training

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many young people not in employment, education or training there were in Hampshire in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when he will answer question number 117373, on young people, tabled by the hon. Member for Basingstoke on 17 January 2007.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 23 January 2007
	 The following table gives the estimated number and percentage of 16 to 18-year-olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) in the South Central Connexions Partnership area in every year since 2002. The South Central area includes the local authorities of Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton.
	
		
			  Estimated number and percentage of 16 to 18-year-olds in South Central Connexions Partnership area who were not in education, employment or training, November 2002-05 
			   Number  Percentage 
			 2002 3,070 5.2 
			 2003 3,340 5.8 
			 2004 2,720 4.7 
			 2005 3,630 6.1 
		
	
	These figures are drawn from the operational client management systems maintained by Connexions services. It only includes those people known to the service (about 85 per cent. of the population); some young people who attended independent schools or were at school outside England are excluded. The age relates to those of calendar year age 16-18 on the date of measurement.
	This NEET measure is that used for setting and monitoring Connexions performance. The definition differs from that used to measure the national departmental PSA NEET target. Along with not covering the entire population, the Connexions NEET measure excludes those on gap years, or in custody. The PSA measure is for academic rather than calendar age 16-18.
	The Department has a target to reduce the proportion of 16 to 18-year-olds NEET by 2 percentage points by 2010.
	There is a close alignment between poor educational attainment pre-16 and the likelihood of becoming NEET between the ages of 16 and 18. Our 14-19 reforms are aimed at raising attainment levels, and ensuring that as many young people as possible remain in education and training up to the age of 18.
	Youth Matters set out a series of reforms aimed at improving the way in which services work together to support young people particularly those most at risk of underachieving.

Youth Work: Finance

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills who the recipients of grants made by the National Voluntary Youth Organisation grant programme are; and how much was paid to each recipient for each year between 1997 and 2006.

Parmjit Dhanda: The NVYO grant scheme is a three-year cycle of funding. The current cycle covers the three years 2005-08. Individual awards, including separate amounts for the three years involved are shown in the first table. Total amounts only are available for the 2002-05 scheme and these are shown in the second table.
	Figures prior to 2002 are not readily available.
	
		
			  NVYO grant scheme allocations, 2005-08 cycle 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  Total 
			 Academy of Youth, University of the First Age (UFA) 92,749 93,347 93,347 279,443 
			 AFASIC 18,549 39,733 49,322 107,604 
			 African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance (ACEA) 50,000 50,000 50,000 150,000 
			 Baptist Union of Great Britain 103,357 105,642 108,868 317,866 
			 Barnado's 29,112 33,152 35,588 97,852 
			 Boys Brigade 79,161 68,108 63,873 211,142 
			 Brathay Hall Trust 95,239 95,853 95,074 286,167 
			 British Diabetic Association (The) (Diabetes UK) 42,407 43,787 45,122 131,316 
			 British Red Cross 145,989 149,332 157,153 452,474 
			 British Youth Council 162,655 157,272 166,503 486,430 
			 Centrepoint 59,685 55,532 58,789 174,006 
			 Changemakers Foundation 97,763 89,513 92,813 280,088 
			 Children's Express 48,305 48,870 49,541 146,716 
			 Children's Society 62,971 55,374 61,457 179,802 
			 Church of England Board of Education 137,033 139,838 145,035 421,905 
			 Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (Spectrum) 55,275 55,350 56,850 167,475 
			 Churches Together in England 50,291 53,384 53,276 156,951 
			 Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council 50,000 50,000 50,000 150,000 
			 Community Matters 58,224 59,516 56,683 174,423 
			 Crusaders 97,733 97,345 99,180 294,258 
			 DEAFAX 50,000 50,000 50,000 150,000 
			 Development Education Association 49,427 47,885 53,503 150,815 
			 Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Award for Young People (Continyou) 68,053 68,053 68,053 204,158 
			 Duke of Edinburgh Awards 111,671 111,995 124,612 348,277 
			 Eating Disorders Association (EDA) 10,003 14,349 23,157 47,509 
			 Endeavour Training 228,625 230,100 230,100 688,825 
			 Fairbridge 57,208 94,420 95,849 247,478 
			 Focus 77,977 76,414 77,497 231,888 
			 Girlguiding UK 34,695 42,575 23,571 100,841 
			 Girl's Brigade 55,139 65,864 53,229 174,233 
			 Girls Venture Corps Air Cadets 32,020 32,120 33,120 97,260 
			 Groundwork 61,075 72,674 74,986 208,736 
			 Hope UK 76,932 76,696 78,202 231,830 
			 Inspire Trust 63,163 61,679 66,063 190,904 
			 International Voluntary Service 38,535 39,969 41,942 120,446 
			 In-volve 57,079 55,556 57,222 169,857 
			 Jewish Lads and Girls Brigade 111,600 110,338 118,100 340,038 
			 Leaveners (The) 5,000 5,000 5,000 15,000 
			 Maccabi GB 63,750 65,430 67,110 196,290 
			 Mencap 58,549 68,358 64,924 191,831 
			 Message Trust 72,246 50,138 45,817 168,201 
			 Methodist Church (MAYC) 85,634 88,550 77,663 251,848 
			 Minorities of Europe 52,463 50,523 52,317 155,303 
			 Muslim Youth Helpline 50,000 50,000 50,000 150,000 
			 NACRO 69,190 19,600 0 88,790 
			 National Association of Clubs for Young People 252,435 262,949 264,258 779,641 
			 National Association of Youth Theatres 106,243 111,175 115,687 333,105 
			 National Community Boats Association 48,190 45,860 29,940 123,990 
			 National Deaf Children's Society (The) 49,342 59,458 70,345 179,145 
			 National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs 123,750 132,000 140,250 396,000 
			 National Trust (The) 95,182 96,221 99,044 290,447 
			 National Youth Theatre of GB 90,288 93,600 96,330 280,218 
			 NCVYS 389,835 349,770 368,796 1,108,402 
			 NYA (on behalf of Youth Bank) 68,558 72,359 74,535 215,452 
			 ONE20 trading as Timebank 75,000 75,000 0 150,000 
			 Outward Bound Trust 88,799 78,664 81,024 248,487 
			 Peacemaker 61,830 60,343 61,916 184,088 
			 Prince's Trust (The) 40,230 51,782 57,988 150,000 
			 Princess Royal Trust for Carers (The) 33,110 33,772 34,448 101,330 
			 Rainer 50,000 50,000 50,000 150,000 
			 Raleigh International 59,634 57,386 49,489 166,509 
			 Rathbone 177,661 157,235 160,763 495,659 
			 Reformed Synagogues of GB (Reform Judaism) 47,791 49,542 52,726 150,060 
			 RSPB (withdrawn from scheme August 2005) 5,229 12,456 23,297 40,982 
			 Rural Youth Network 77,953 77,888 79,715 235,556 
			 Scout Association 98,403 103,689 107,360 309,453 
			 Sense 33,079 26,669 29,610 89,358 
			 Shelter 93,137 64,856 65,888 223,881 
			 Skill 144,452 143,625 152,630 440,706 
			 Student Action for Refugees (STAR) 50,226 49,613 51,602 151,442 
			 Tall Ships Trust 97,002 75,676 51,726 224,404 
			 Time for God 50,659 48,810 50,494 149,963 
			 Trident Trust—Brathay Hall 78,943 80,306 138,478 297,726 
			 UJIA Makor 50,000 50,000 50,000 150,000 
			 UK Youth 152,530 250,760 291,400 694,690 
			 UNICEF UK 113,538 96,720 96,720 306,978 
			 United Reformed Church 50,000 50,000 50,000 150,000 
			 Weston Spirit 62,899 64,418 65,983 193,299 
			 Wildlife Trust 50,000 50,000 50,000 150,000 
			 YMCA 148,649 151,105 158,036 457,789 
			 Youth Access 198,806 205,556 203,760 608,122 
			 Youth Access and Leap Confronting Conflict 50,000 50,000 50,000 150,000 
			 Youth Action Network 50,000 50,000 50,000 150,000 
			 Youth for Christ 78,151 78,655 78,655 235,461 
			 Youth Music Theatre UK 74,439 67,540 60,214 202,193 
			 YWCA England and Wales 141,954 164,270 179,920 486,144 
			 Total 6,984,453 7,038,962 7,163,535 21,186,950 
		
	
	
		
			  Breakdown of total funding awarded to each organisation in respect of the 2002-05 cycle, total over 36 months 
			  Name of organisation  NVYO grant (£) 
			 African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance 51,066.00 
			 Army Cadet Force 102,130.00 
			 Artswork 125,985.00 
			 Baptist Union of GB 204,260.00 
			 Boy's Brigade 93,619.00 
			 Boy's Brigade and Girl's Brigade Joint Project 25,533.00 
			 Brathay Hall Trust 186,486.00 
			 The British Gospel Arts Consortium 116,720.00 
			 British Red Cross 360,211.00 
			 The British Sports Trust 173,494.00 
			 Campaigners 96,489.00 
			 CEDC 194,534.00 
			 Centrepoint 105,000.00 
			 Changemakers Foundation Ltd. 194,534.00 
			 Childrens Express 127,663.00 
			 Childrens Society 150,000.00 
			 Church of England Youth Service 255,541.00 
			 Church Lads' and Girls Brigade 70,640.00 
			 Churches Together in Britain and Ireland 194,534.00 
			 Commonwealth YEC 158,302.00 
			 Council for environmental Education 102,130.00 
			 Crime Concern 86,658.00 
			 The Crusaders 251,151.00 
			 CYFA Pathfinder Ventures Ltd. 85,035.00 
			 Dawliffe Hall Education Foundation 194,534.00 
			 Deafax Trust 53,058.00 
			 Development Education Association 76,598.00 
			 Duke of Edinburgh's Awards 339,999.00 
			 Endeavour Training 857,624.00 
			 Fairbridge 492,000.00 
			 Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens 101,272.00 
			 Focus 248,031.00 
			 The Foyer Federation 140,706.00 
			 Friends of Young Deaf People 261,648.00 
			 Frontier Youth Trust 36,474.00 
			 Frontier Youth Trust—National Council YMCA and Church Army 85,110.00 
			 Girl' Brigade 40,852.00 
			 Girls' Friendly Society 144,684.00 
			 Girls Venture Corps Air Cadets 51,162.00 
			 Groundwork 86,658.00 
			 Guide Association 51,066.00 
			 Hope UK 118,082.00 
			 International Voluntary Service 40,851.00 
			 Jewish Lads and Girls Brigade 119,152.00 
			 Leap Confronting Conflict 279,597.00 
			 The Leaveners 12,999.00 
			 Lubavitch Foundation 187,239.00 
			 Makor AJY 130,629.00 
			 Mencap 189,937.00 
			 Methodist Association of Youth Clubs 289,369.00 
			 National Association of Clubs for Young People 632,766.00 
			 Nat. Ass. of Clubs for Young People and Youth Action Network 106,089.00 
			 Nat. Association of Clubs for Young People—National Youth Agency—Department for Education and Skills 89,748.00 
			 National Association of Youth Theatres 188,941.00 
			 National Council of YMCA's 314,026.00 
			 National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs 360,000.00 
			 National Forum for the Development of Rural Youth Work 156,600.00 
			 The National Trust 176,539.00 
			 National Youth Music Theatre 190,643.00 
			 National Youth Theatre of GB 291,801.00 
			 NCVYS and British Youth Council 1,166,589.00 
			 New Testament Church of God 40,851.00 
			 Oasis Trust 238,304.00 
			 Ocean Youth Trust North West 127,322.00 
			 Outward Bound Trust 264,840.00 
			 PHAB 109,060.00 
			 Philharmonia Orchestra 66,130.00 
			 The Prince's Trust 194,534.00 
			 Quaker Home Service 25,599.00 
			 Raleigh International 127,662.00 
			 Rathbone Society 268,614.00 
			 Reform Synagogues of GB 154,908.00 
			 RPS Rainer 190,000.00 
			 Sail Training Association 85,109.00 
			 St. John Ambulance Youth 88,749.00 
			 Salvation Army 102,130.00 
			 Save the Children Fund 179,628.00 
			 Scouts Association 373,725.00 
			 Shelter 97,932.00 
			 Skylight Circus Arts 25,997.00 
			 Spurgeon's Child Care 100,671.00 
			 Time for God 88,743.00 
			 Union of MACCABI Associations 147,846.00 
			 UK Youth 867,435.00 
			 UK Youth—Council for Environment Education and Groundwork Birmingham 96,684.00 
			 UK Youth Parliament 86,658.00 
			 United Reform Church (Joint) 51,066.00 
			 United Reformed Church 150,765.00 
			 Weston Spirit 183,480.00 
			 Woodcraft Folk 156,843.00 
			 Youth Access and Leap Confronting Conflict 136,173.00 
			 Youth for Christ (in Energize) Partnership with Worth Unlimited 194,535.00 
			 Young Christian Workers 67,374.00 
			 Young Muslim Organisation 60,000.00 
			 Young Womens Christian Association 408,366.00 
			 Youth Access 485,454.00 
			 Youth Action Network 137,427.00 
			 Total 17,995,402.00

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Brownfield Sites

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she next expects to meet representatives of planning authorities to discuss building on brownfield sites.

Meg Munn: I and my ministerial colleagues meet the Local Government Association regularly to discuss a range of matters. But there are no current plans to meet them to discuss this specific subject.

Coalfield Communities

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on regeneration in coalfield communities.

Yvette Cooper: English Partnership's Coalfield Programme, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust and the Coalfields Enterprise Fund are delivering real change including 16,000 jobs so far as well as new homes, skills and community support.

Housing

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what work her Department is undertaking in response to the report by John Hills on the future of housing.

Ruth Kelly: John Hills' report is a significant contribution to the debate about the role of social housing. My Department is developing a programme of work to address the challenges raised in John's report. We will bring forward our detailed proposals in due course.

Housing

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the  (a) one-off and  (b) recurring cost of implementing the Building (Amendment) Regulations 2001 and the Building (Approved Inspectors etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2001 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Angela Smith: The Building (Amendment) Regulations 2001 and the Building (Approved Inspectors etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2001 Regulations implemented changes to Parts H (drainage and waste disposal), J (combustion appliances and fuel storage systems) and L (conservation of fuel and power) of the Building Regulations.
	A Regulatory Impact Assessment was carried out and is on the Department's website. It gives the following estimates of costs and benefits:
	
		
			  Part H  £ million 
			 One off cost to business: 0 
			 One off cost to regulators 0 
			 Recurring cost to business 94 
			 Recurring cost to regulators 0 
			  Note: The annual benefits were estimated at £177 million 
		
	
	
		
			  Part J  £ million 
			 One off cost to business 0.32 
			 One off cost to regulators 0 
			 Recurring cost to business 22 
			 Recurring cost to regulators 0 
			  Note: The annual benefits were estimated at £30 million 
		
	
	
		
			  Part L  £ million 
			 One off cost to business 0 
			 One off cost to regulators 0 
			 Recurring cost to business 159 
			 Recurring cost to regulators 0 
			  Note: The annual benefits were estimated at £237 million 
		
	
	As is clear above, the changes in each case were shown to deliver substantial health and safety and energy efficiency benefits which far outweighed the costs. It was estimated that the costs to regulators would be nil or minimal since these were amendments to existing provisions.

Local Government

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on the recent Comprehensive Performance Assessment ratings for councils in England.

Meg Munn: The Comprehensive Performance Assessment 2006 results showed that:
	79 per cent. of councils achieve three or four star performance;
	77 per cent. of councils are improving strongly or improving well;
	No councils are in the bottom Comprehensive Performance Assessment category.
	The improvements in performance that local government continue to make has paved the way for the proposals for the new performance framework, outlined in our White Paper 'Strong and prosperous communities'.

Local Government

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what date the Lifting Burdens taskforce is expected to publish its final report; and what the timetable is for the implementation of its recommendations.

Phil Woolas: The Lifting Burdens taskforce plans to have a rolling programme of reviews looking at the requirements relating to individual Government Departments, service areas or outcomes. It is anticipated that these reviews will be published at regular intervals over the next two years.
	As the taskforce carries out further reviews, it is envisaged that the Government Department(s) that are the originators of specific individual reporting items will respond to the relevant set of recommendations after consideration of each review.

Local Government Funding

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent representations she has received on the funding formula for allocating grants to local authorities.

Phil Woolas: During the recent consultation on the 2007-08 local government finance settlement, 169 representations were received from local authorities, local authority groups and hon. Members.

Local Government Funding

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans the Government have to take forward the recommendations of the Lyons report.

Phil Woolas: Sir Michael's report is substantial and wide-ranging and concludes there is no "golden key" solution. The Budget has set out the Government's position on a number of his short term recommendations. Sir Michael's individual recommendations will inform, and be taken account of within, the ongoing development of Government policy.

Flood Plains: Building

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes she expects to be built in the next five years on land in natural flood plains.

Yvette Cooper: Planning Policy Statement 25 (PPS25) is clear that only a very restricted range of development that is water-compatible or essential infrastructure should be permitted on the functional flood plain. In other flood risk areas, if the sequential risk-based approach set out in PPS25 shows that development cannot be directed to lower risk sites, the planning authority should test whether the need for the housing outweighs the flood risk, and it will be safe, taking into account the expected impacts of climate change, the ongoing availability of defences and the application of other flood risk reduction measures.

Business Rates Valuations

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2007,  Official Report, column 848W, on business rates valuations, what the timetable is for the completion of the feasibility study on using automated valuation modelling.

Ruth Kelly: It is expected that this exploratory work will be completed in April 2007.

Business: Insurance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent meetings she has had with  (a) representatives of the insurance industry,  (b) business groups and  (c) local fire authorities on insurance costs to businesses; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: holding answer 20 March 2007
	The Secretary of State has not had any recent meetings with representatives of the insurance industry, business groups or local fire authorities on insurance costs to businesses, and has no plans to make a statement.

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of parish and town councils in England levy a parish precept on the council tax.

Ruth Kelly: Statistical returns submitted by billing authorities to the Department record the aggregate amount of parish and town precepts for each billing authority area, but do not collect information on the number of councils setting such precepts or individual precept amounts.

Council Tax: B&Q DIY Superstores

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations her Department has received from B&Q plc on the council tax.

Ruth Kelly: We have identified two representations from B&Q plc received by this Department or its predecessor Department about council tax. Both expressed concern that people making home improvements would have to pay more council tax following revaluation. Both letters preceded the Government's decision to postpone council tax revaluation in England and our clear commitment that revaluation will not take place in the lifetime of this Parliament.

Departments: Marketing

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent on managing her Department's and its predecessor Department's corporate identity and branding in each year since 2002.

Ruth Kelly: The information is as follows
	
		
			   £ 
			 2002-03 52,117 
			 2003-04 0 
			 2004-05 0 
			 2005-06 4,330 
			 2006-07 42,300

Departments: Overseas Workers

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether her Department has any employees based outside the United Kingdom.

Ruth Kelly: No staff are based outside United Kingdom.

Domestic Violence: Victim Support Schemes

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the £78 million announced for funding domestic violence sanctuaries by her Department in December 2006 was in addition to the previously announced funding for homelessness.

Ruth Kelly: The Department for Communities and Local Government strategy "Sustainable Communities: Homes for All" supported increased investment in homelessness prevention, from £60 million in 2005-06 to £74 million in 2007-08 for homelessness prevention grants for local authorities and the voluntary sector. £47.2 million of this has been allocated to local authorities, which will be used to fund Sanctuary Schemes and other homelessness prevention schemes.

Gaming Clubs: Licensing

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions her Department and its predecessor has had with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on increasing the number of casino licences from those currently allowed under the provisions of the Gambling Act 2005 and its secondary legislation.

Ruth Kelly: There have been no such discussions.

Government Offices for the Regions

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by each government office for the region in  (a) 1996-97 and  (b) the latest period for which figures are available.

Ruth Kelly: Full-time equivalent (FTE) figures are not available for 1997. The total number of staff by headcount was 2,389. For 2007, please see the following table.
	
		
			  February 2007  Headcount  FTE 
			 GO East 235 226.4 
			 GO East Midlands 233 226.5 
			 GO London 271 265.2 
			 GO North East 266 256.3 
			 GO North West 307 295.9 
			 GO South East 282 265.3 
			 GO South West 278 263.1 
			 GO West Midlands 264 253.8 
			 GO Yorkshire and Humber 248 236.0 
			 Total GO Network 2,384 2,288.5 
		
	
	In 1997 the Government office network represented the interests of four Whitehall Departments. Today the network delivers on behalf of 10 Departments.

Hotels

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1353W, on hotels, if she will place in the Library copies of each representation.

Ruth Kelly: I have placed in the Library copies of each of the representations listed in the answer of 19 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1353W on hotels.

Housing: Construction

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the  (a) one-off cost and  (b) recurring cost of implementing the Amendment to the Building and Approved Inspectors (Amendment) Regulations 2006, New Edition of Approved Document F, to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators;
	(2)  what her most recent estimate is of the  (a) one-off cost and  (b) recurring costs of implementing the Building (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2004 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators;
	(3)  what her most recent estimate is of the  (a) one-off cost and  (b) recurring costs of implementing the Building (Amendment) Regulations 2003 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Angela Smith: The Building (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2004 introduced part P of the Building Regulations (Electrical safety in dwellings) to help reduce the number of deaths, injuries and fires caused by faulty electrical installations. Prior to its introduction the Department produced a regulatory impact assessment (RIA) which estimated costs and benefits over a 10-year period, discounted at 3.5 per cent. to present value. The full RIA is available on this Department's website:
	www.communities.gov.uk.
	The estimated costs for part P are:
	One off costs to businesses: negligible so not estimated
	One off costs to regulators: negligible so not estimated
	Recurring costs to businesses: £36.9 million per annum;
	Recurring costs to building control bodies: £1.35 million per annum.
	Over the 10-year period the RIA estimated the benefits from the reduction in deaths, injuries and fires as £475 million.
	Amendment to the Building and Approved Inspectors (Amendment) Regulations 2006 and new edition of Approved Document F refer to the 2006 revisions of part L and Approved Document F of the Building Regulations. Part L deals with conservation of fuel and power, and Approved Document F gives technical guidance on ventilation of buildings. A regulatory impact assessment was carried out and is on the Department's website. It gives the following estimates of costs:
	
		
			  Part L 
			   £ million 
			 One off cost to business 10 
			 One off cost to regulators 0.5 
			 Recurring cost to business 1,084.9 
			 Recurring cost to regulators 0.05 
		
	
	The total cumulative saving over the lifetime of the Part L measures was estimated at £1,531.5 million.
	
		
			  Approved Document F 
			   £ million 
			 One off cost to business 4.75 
			 One off cost to regulators 0.56 
			 Recurring cost to business 2.14 
			 Recurring cost to regulators (1)— 
			 (1 )Not significantly greater than before. 
		
	
	The amendments will make a significant and cost-effective contribution to reducing carbon dioxide emissions from new buildings. The total benefits of the part F changes were estimated to be between £1.5 million to £5.2 million per year (average of £3.1 million).
	The Building (Amendment) Regulations 2003 introduced revisions of part M and Approved Document M of the Building Regulations. Part M deals with access to and use of buildings. The amendments relate solely to buildings other than dwellings, and support, and complement, the aims of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA).
	A regulatory impact assessment was carried out and is on the Department's website. It gives the following estimates:
	
		
			   £ million 
			  New buildings  
			 Recurring cost to business 120 
			   
			  Existing buildings  
			 Recurring cost to business 69.33 
			 Recurring cost to regulators: (1)— 
			 (1) It was estimated that, on average, an additional quarter to half full time equivalent member of staff may be required to carry out the additional functions, the cost of which will be reflected in building control charges. 
		
	
	One-off cost to business and regulators was not estimated separately in the RIA but was assumed to be nil, since the regulations did not incur administrative costs additional to or separate from those normally incurred by the building control process.
	The changes were shown to deliver substantial benefits which far outweighed the costs. To put this into perspective the expected annual cost for new buildings of £120 million was estimated to provide benefits to the value of approximately £10 per annum for each of the estimated 11.7 million people with disabilities. In view of the wide range of personal and social benefits that would result from improved access for disabled people and taking account of additional accessibility benefits for other groups and businesses, the actual benefits of these proposals are expected to exceed this by a considerable margin.

Housing: Floods

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate her Department has made of the number of new homes which have been built in high risk flood areas in the last year for which figures are available.

Ruth Kelly: In 2004, the most recent year for which data are available, 16,500 dwellings were built within flood risk areas. This is 11 per cent. of all dwellings built in 2004.
	Flood risk is a major factor in the location of new development. The Government published a new Planning Policy Statement (PPS25) in December 2006 to strengthen and clarify earlier policy on this issue. Flood risk must be taken into account and carefully managed at all stages of the planning process.

Housing: West Midlands

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes in  (a) England,  (b) the West Midlands and  (c) Birmingham were (i) demolished and (ii) built in each year since 1996, broken down by tenure.

Yvette Cooper: The information requested at various levels of disaggregation is available in Housing Statistics tables on the Communities and Local Government website.
	(i) Conversion and demolitions (England) (Table 101)
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/17/Table111_id1156017.xls
	Due to the way estimates are compiled it is not possible to produce these at a regional or local authority level.
	(ii) Housebuilding by tenure and region (Table 231)
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/52/Table231_id1156052.xls
	Housebuilding by local authority district and tenure (Table 253)
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/66/Table253Excel860Kb_id1156066.xls
	Due to the timing of when the information is collected the final tenure is not always known so some of the registered social landlord dwellings may be classed as 'private'.

Local Authority Charging

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1354W, on local authority charging, what the timetable is for the research into local authorities charging for pre-application advice and discussions.

Ruth Kelly: The Department has commissioned research into the cost of the planning service to local authorities, including the costs of non-fee related work such as pre-application advice and discussions. We will consider the research and plan to publish the results later this year.

Mapping Data and Services

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2007,  Official Report, columns 1355-56W, on mapping data and services, if she will list the functions which were transferred from the former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister's Office that accounted for the £1,160,000 of expenditure.

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Member to the Deputy Prime Minister's letter of appointment of 16 May 2006 from the Prime Minister, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

Parking: Fees and Charges

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the revenue was of each local authority with responsibility for parking enforcement in England from net income from  (a) parking charges,  (b) parking penalty notices and  (c) balance of the Parking Places Revenue Account in 2006.

Gillian Merron: I have been asked to reply.
	Information on net income from  (a) parking charges and  (b) parking penalty notices is not available. The balance of gross income from parking charges and parking penalty notices and gross expenditure for 2005-06 (for most recent year available) is provided in the table that has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Unitary Councils

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she would approve a bid for unitary council status where a majority of local residents  (a) in total and  (b) participating had voted against the proposal in a referendum held under the Local Government Act 2003.

Phil Woolas: As previously stated, proposals for unitary status will be implemented only where, in the Government's judgment, they meet the five criteria set out in the Invitation issues on 26 October 2006.

Unitary Councils

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether 2008 elections will be  (a) postponed and  (b) cancelled for councils which are approved to move to unitary status.

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 19 March 2007,  Official Report, column 995W.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departments: Postal Services

Christopher Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which postal companies handle mail dispatched by his Department and its agencies.

Peter Hain: My Department and its agencies use the following postal companies to handle dispatched mail: DHL Global Mail, DX Network Services, Royal Mail and TNT Post UK Limited.

Firearms

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many legal firearms have been stolen in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The Police Service for Northern Ireland does not hold information in the form requested, however the Chief Constable has provided in the following table details of burglary, robbery and theft offences in the last five financial years where the property stolen included firearms.
	
		
			   Number of offences 
			 2001-02 95 
			 2002-03 103 
			 2003-04 94 
			 2004-05 71 
			 2005-06 73 
			 1 April 2006 to 28 February 2007 46 
			  Source: Central Statistics Unit, PSNI

Motoring Offences

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many road traffic offences were recorded in Northern Ireland for drivers whose vehicles were registered in  (a) England,  (b) Wales,  (c) Scotland,  (d) the Republic of Ireland and  (e) other European countries in each of the last six years, broken down by country of vehicle registration; and what penalties were imposed on drivers in each category.

Paul Goggins: I have been informed by PSNI that information in respect of motoring offences committed involving foreign registered vehicles is recorded by driver ethnicity as opposed to vehicle origin, therefore it is not possible answer this question.
	From 1 April 2007, PSNI will record offender nationality.

Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland

Jane Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he plans to meet retired Royal Ulster Constabulary officers to discuss their views on the consequences of the conduct of Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland investigations.

Paul Goggins: The views of retired police officers were outlined during an Adjournment Debate (21 March) about the Police Ombudsman's role in investigations. A report by the Retired Police Officer's Association was presented to me following the debate, and I have agreed to meet representatives of the association at the earliest opportunity to discuss their concerns further.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Broadcasting Programmes: Children

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of hours per week of children's programming shown on each public service broadcaster channel; and if she will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: The most recent figures available, as collected by Ofcom, are for the number of hours of children's programmes broadcast per week in 2006 and these are set out in the table.
	
		
			   Hours per week for 2006 
			 BBC1 9.53 
			 BBC 2 27.52 
			 Cbeebies 80.29 
			 CBBC 72.02 
			 ITV1(1) 14.03 
			 Channel 4 6.43 
			 FIVE 25.38 
			 (1 )Including GMTV.   Source:  Ofcom.

Broadcasting Programmes: Children

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment her Department has made of the amount of children's programming commissioned by each public service broadcaster; and if she will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: The most recent figures available for first run qualifying independent commissions, as collected by Ofcom, are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Qualifying independent commissions for 2005 
			   Hours/minutes (average per week) 
			 BBC1 0.37 
			 BBC2 2.37 
			 Cbeebies 0.10 
			 CBBC 1.16 
			 ITV1(1) 3.25 
			 Channel 4 0 
			 FIVE 2.01 
			 (1)Including GMTV.   Source:  Ofcom.

Casinos: Licensing

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what guidance was sought by the Casino Advisory Panel from her Department on how to test the willingness to license within a local authority applicant for a regional casino.

Richard Caborn: The Casino Advisory Panel was set up to operate entirely independently of the Government. It was a matter for the panel how it interpreted the criteria.
	The factors which the panel took into account when assessing each of the proposals before it against its remitted criteria are set out clearly in chapter 6 of the panel's report.

Cultural Heritage: Conferences

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1158W, on the Institute for Public Policy Research, on what date the Identity, Culture and the Challenge of Diversity research was commissioned; on what dates the conference and seminar fees were paid; what the titles were of the conferences and seminars; what the purpose was of the secondment; and what the dates were of the secondment.

David Lammy: Arts Council England did not commission the Identity, Culture and the Challenge of Diversity research; this was an IPPR project to which the Arts Council made a charitable donation.
	The following table shows the title and date on which fees were paid for other conferences and seminars:
	
		
			  Title  Date 
			 Oxford Media Convention 9 January 2003 
			 Oxford Media Convention 13 January 2004 
			 Race equality event 19 July 2004 
			 Breakfast debate—"For Art's Sake: Society and the Arts in the 21st Century", Labour Party conference 27 September 2004 
			 Oxford Media Convention 12 May 2005 
			 Breakfast debate—"Creating Communities: Arts, Housing and regeneration", Creating Communities 26 September 2005 
			 Oxford Media Convention 17 January 2006 
			 Seminar—"Trusts: A new future for schools", Sponsorship of Trusts 2 February 2006 
		
	
	The purpose of the secondment was to cover a vacancy in the Arts Council's research team. The secondment was from 13 February 2006 to 31 January 2007.

Digital Broadcasting

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what measures have been put in place in order to ensure that the targeted assistance scheme in Whitehaven is delivered effectively and that all of those persons assessed by her Department as eligible under the terms of the scheme  (a) are contacted in a suitable format and  (b) receive assistance appropriate to their needs;
	(2)  by what measures those eligible for the targeted assistance scheme are to be identified in Whitehaven.

Shaun Woodward: The Government and BBC are jointly conducting the procurement process to appoint an operator to deliver the help scheme in Whitehaven and more generally.
	Digital UK is responsible for generic communications and has written to households in Whitehaven explaining the Help Scheme and asking those who think they are eligible to apply. This will be supported by local advertising. The letter and leaflets are available in large print, audio or Braille, or in another language.
	Once appointed, the operator will confirm eligibility of those who have responded to the Digital UK letter and contact them about the support available.
	Subject to parliamentary progress, DWP data released in accordance with the Digital Switchover (Disclosure of Information) Bill will be used to verify eligibility in Whitehaven.

Gambling

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of online casinos that will be based in the UK from September 2007; what the Gambling Commission's most recent estimate is of the number of remote casino operators based on-shore from September 2007; what discussions she has held with Ministers at HM Treasury on the taxation of online casinos; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: Neither DCMS nor the Gambling Commission has made a formal estimate of the number of online casinos that will be based in Great Britain from September 2007. However, from September 2007, the Gambling Commission will have records of all new holders of remote operating licences. The Secretary of State regularly discusses a wide range of subjects with Treasury Ministers.

Licensed Premises

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many licensed premises there are in England and Wales, broken down by  (a) off licence and  (b) on licence.

Shaun Woodward: The Licensing Statistical Bulletin published by DCMS in 2004 showed that there were 159,952 licensed premises in England and Wales at 30 June 2004. Broken down, there were 113,370 on-licensed premises and 46,582 off-licensed premises.
	Under the former licensing system, premises with an on-licence would usually also include permission to make off-sales. We expect most of these would have converted those permissions to their new licence.
	Information for the next Licensing Statistical Bulletin is expected to be collected later this year.

Licensed Premises: Reviews

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what response her Department has made of the Licensing Review Panel's conclusions; and which recommendations she expects to be implemented.

Shaun Woodward: Copies of the Independent Licensing Fees Review Panel's final report were placed in the Libraries of the House on 25 January. We are currently assessing the implications of all the panel's detailed conclusions and recommendations and will provide a response shortly. Before reaching a final decision about implementing any changes to the fees regime and related issues, we will undertake a full public consultation so that fee payers, local authorities and the public can help to inform future policy.

Lottery Funding

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the awards made for sports-related activities in Rotherham in each of the last two years.

Richard Caborn: The table shows the Exchequer and Lottery funding which Sport England and Sportsmatch have awarded to Rotherham in each of the last two full years.
	
		
			   Organisation name  Project title  Amount (£)  Exchequer/Lottery funding 
			 2004-05 Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council Active Ages 199,614 Lottery 
			 2004-05 Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council Community Athletics Refurbishment Programme 57,000 Lottery 
			 2004-05 National Rounders Association Rounders (Whole Sport Plan) 450,000 Lottery 
			 2004-05 Rotherham Town Cricket Club — 24,090 Exchequer 
			 2005-06 Welbeck Tennis Club — 12,000 Exchequer 
			 2005 Rotherham Metro Swimming — 3,250 Exchequer—Sportsmatch 
			 2005 Rotherham Rugby Union Football Club — 50,000 Exchequer—Sportsmatch 
			 2006 Sheffield Sharks Rugby league project based in Rotherham 6,000 Exchequer—Sportsmatch 
			 2006 Rotherham United Football Club Football in the Community 3,000 Exchequer—Sportsmatch

Museums and Galleries: Gloucester

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress she has made in her consideration of the case for providing funding for the Waterways Museum at Gloucester to enable it to provide free entry; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: holding answer 22 March 2007
	The Waterways Trust is an independent charitable trust that runs three Waterways Museums, including the one at Gloucester. The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council has provided substantial support and advice to the Waterways Trust and Museums which could help them to realise their potential to support learning and community activities.
	As with other independent museums, it is for the trustees of the Waterways Museums to identify the most appropriate business model to secure their financial viability and the preservation of their collections. My Department has no plans to provide funding for the Waterways Museums.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan: Peace Keeping Operations

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether mine clearing vehicles  (a) are and  (b) are planned to be in use in Afghanistan.

Adam Ingram: During war-fighting operations, minefields are not cleared but are breached in circumstances where they are an obstacle to the freedom of manoeuvre of our armed forces or present a potential threat to our troops. Comprehensive mine clearance is generally undertaken by humanitarian organisations on non-war-fighting operations, rather than by the armed forces. As the armed forces are not involved in clearance, there is no requirement for mine clearing vehicles in Afghanistan. The UK Task Force does, however, have a specific Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Task Force, which includes vehicles than can convey the EOD team to a mine incident.

Armed Forces

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel are  (a) attached to and  (b) working in his Department, broken down by rank.

Derek Twigg: It is not possible to determine how many service personnel are attached to or working in the Department. Data are held giving the strength of the UK regular forces broken down by budgetary area and rank, which broadly show the number of service personnel working in each operational and support area. All data are shown by paid rank.
	
		
			  UK regular forces officers by top level budget and NATO rank( 1)  at 1 April 2006 
			  Number 
			   OF-9  OF-8  OF-7  OF-6  OF-5  OF-4  OF-3  OF-2  OF-1  OF-(D)  Total 
			  Operational TLBs — — — — — — — — — — 18,800 
			 Commander-in-Chief Fleet(2) (3)— (3)— 10 40 120 490 1,600 2,400 730 50 5,440 
			 Commander-in-Chief Land (3)— (3)— 20 50 160 550 2,180 3,340 1,280 (3)— 7,580 
			 General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 40 160 230 60 (3)— 500 
			 Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Strike Command (3)— (3)— 10 20 70 330 1,220 2,540 280 (3)— 4,470 
			 Chief of Joint Operations (3)— (3)— 10 10 40 140 310 260 30 (3)— 800 
			  Support TLBs — — — — — — — — — — 13,750 
			 Adjutant General (3)— (3)— 10 50 160 440 1,480 950 500 880 4,480 
			 Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Personnel and Training Command (3)— (3)— 10 20 80 320 600 1,130 720 80 2,970 
			 Defence Logistics Organisation (3)— (3)— 10 30 130 360 700 470 20 (3)— 1,730 
			 Central (3)— 10 30 100 400 1,220 1,300 820 50 (3)— 3,930 
			 Defence Estates (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 20 20 10 (3)— (3)— 60 
			 Corporate Science and Technology (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 
			 Defence Procurement Agency (3)— (3)— (3)— 10 30 120 320 110 (3)— (3)— 590 
			  Trading Funds (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 20 60 10 (3)— (3)— 90 
			 Defence Science and Technology Laboratories (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 20 60 10 (3)— (3)— 80 
			 Meteorological Office (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 
			 UK Hydrographic Office (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 
			 Defence Aviation Repair Agency (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 10 
			 Army Base Repair Organisation (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 
			 Unallocated (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 10 20 30 (3)— (3)— 60 
			 (1 )No Service have personnel at NATO Rank OF-10. (2) 2(nd) Sea Lord/Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command TLB has closed, personnel now belong to Commander-in-Chief Fleet TLB. Operational and support personnel are therefore consolidated within the one Navy TLB. (3) zero or rounded to zero.  Notes: 1. Due to the introduction of a new Personnel Administration System for RAF, 1 April 2006 RAF Budgetary data are provisional and subject to review. 2. Due to the rounding methods used, totals may not always equal the sum of the parts. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.  Source: DASA (Tri-Service) 
		
	
	
		
			  UK regular forces other ranks by top level budget and NATO rank( 1)  at 1 April 2006 
			  Number 
			   O R -9  O R -8( 4)  O R -7  O R -6  O R -4  O R -3( 3,4)  O R -2  O R -1( 3)  Total 
			 Operational TLBs — — — — — — — — 126,440 
			 Commander-in-Chief Fleet(2) 590 680 3,150 3,880 5,740 200 13,250 10 27,500 
			 Commander-in-Chief Land 970 2,790 4,100 7,690 11,750 12,740 26,050 840 66,950 
			 General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland 70 200 250 520 890 910 1,660 30 4,520 
			 Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Strike Command 670 30 1,960 4,100 5,930 100 11,090 50 23,940 
			 Chief of Joint Operations 100 100 300 550 890 310 1,280 20 3540 
			 Support TLBs — — — — — — — — 36,320 
			 Adjutant General 390 930 1,090 1,690 2,430 960 900 9,840 18,220 
			 Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Personnel and Training Command 220 40 790 1,650 1,780 40 1,080 940 6,530 
			 Defence Logistics Organisation 370 260 1,240 780 670 90 510 (5)— 3,910 
			 Central 330 470 1,000 1,580 2,000 490 1,200 40 7,110 
			 Defence Estates 20 30 10 10 (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 80 
			 Corporate Science and Technology (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 
			 Defence Procurement Agency 80 60 200 110 (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 460 
			 Trading Funds (5)— (5)— 10 10 10 (5)— 10 (5)— 50 
			 Defence Science and Technology Laboratories (5)— (5)— 10 10 (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 20 
			 Meteorological Office (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 
			 UK Hydrographic Office (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 
			 Defence Aviation Repair Agency (5)— (5)— (5)— 10 10 (5)— 10 (5)— 30 
			 Army Base Repair Organisation (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 
			 Unallocated 10 (5)— 20 40 60 (5)— 210 (5)— 340 
			 (1 )No Service have personnel at NATO Rank OF-10. (2) 2(nd) Sea Lord/Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command TLB has closed, personnel now belong to Commander-in-Chief Fleet TLB. Operational and support personnel are therefore consolidated within the one Navy TLB. (3) The Naval Service has no personnel at NATO Ranks OR-1 or OR-3 (4) The Royal Air Force has no personnel at NATO Ranks OR-3 or OR-8 (5) zero or rounded to zero.  Notes: 1. Due to the introduction of a new Personnel Administration System for RAF, 1 April 2006 RAF Budgetary data are provisional and subject to review. 2. Due to the rounding methods used, totals may not always equal the sum of the parts. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.  Source: DASA (Tri-Service)

Armed Forces: Divorce

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel were granted a divorce in  (a) 2005 and  (b) 2006 who (i) have since left the armed forces and (ii) are still serving.

Derek Twigg: The following tables provide the number of Army and RAF personnel divorcing in 2005 and 2006, broken down by divorcees who have subsequently left the armed forces and those still serving. Naval service data are not available as the Naval service groups 'Separated', 'Divorced' and 'Widowed' together.
	Figures are for UK regular forces, and therefore exclude Gurkhas, full-time reserve service personnel, the Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment and mobilised reservists. Figures are for trained and untrained personnel excluding officer designates.
	The term 'divorce' includes 'decree absolute' and 'marriage annulled'. It excludes 'decree nisi' and individuals who are separated.
	
		
			  Army 
			   2005  2006 
			 Number of divorces 1,040 900 
			 Divorcees still serving as at  1 January 2007 890 870 
			 Divorcees subsequently leaving the armed forces 160 40 
		
	
	
		
			  RAF 
			   2005  2006 
			 Number of divorces 570 n/a 
			 Divorcees still serving as at  1 January 2007 480 n/a 
			 Divorcees subsequently leaving the armed forces 90 n/a 
			  Notes: 'n/a' denotes not available. Due to the introduction of a new personnel administration system, RAF data are not available. Due to the rounding methods used, totals may not always equal the sum of the parts. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in five have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. 
		
	
	In compiling this data a small error has been discovered in the RAF data given in my reply of 19 February 2007,  Official Report, column 202W, to the hon. Member for Forest Dean (Mr. Harper) for which I apologise.
	The error does not substantially alter the estimates of divorce rates in the RAF.

Armed Forces: Housing

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many house fires have been reported due to faulty Modern Housing Solutions property.

Derek Twigg: During the past 12 months there have been five fires in MHS managed properties, two of which were minor and attributed to employee carelessness rather than property defect. The remaining three serious fires resulted in severe property damage. One was caused deliberately by an intruder, another attributed to occupant carelessness, and a third was occasioned by a faulty electrical installation (not attributable to MHS but as a result of inherited defects from the previous maintenance regime).

Armed Forces: Uniforms

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much  (a) a graduate of Sandhurst and  (b) a newly-commissioned officer promoted through the ranks is expected to contribute to the cost of their regimental dress uniform.

Derek Twigg: All newly commissioned officers, whether graduates from Sandhurst or those promoted from the ranks, are provided with uniform and entitled to the same initial outfit allowance to enable them to perform their duties. The allowance does not vary according to the method of entry but does vary according to the Regiment or Corps to which they belong. Any additional cost that individuals may incur over and above the allowance is a private matter.

Army Board: Fair Trade Initiative

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has taken steps to ensure goods provided to members of the Army Board are fair trade.

Derek Twigg: Unless it is exempt, all public procurement must comply with the EC Public Procurement Regulations, which preclude the ability to specify a requirement as fair trade as it is considered anti-competition. It is, therefore, not legally possible to ensure that goods provided to the Army Board or the wider public sector are fair trade. However, the Department's policy encourages full consideration to be given to fair trade products whenever they meet the relevant legitimate criteria.

Army: Recruitment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many recruits the Army is seeking to attract to  (a) regular service and  (b) officer cadet training in (i) 2007-08 and (ii) 2008-09.

Derek Twigg: The recruitment target for soldiers (regular service) is 13,817 (2007-08) and 14,104 (2008-09).
	The recruitment target for officer cadet training (direct entry officers) is 652 (2007-08) and 658 (2008-09).

Bosnia: Kosovo

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and in what role British troops remain in  (a) Bosnia and  (b) Kosovo; and whether there are plans (i) to reduce numbers stationed and (ii) to change the operational remit in each location.

Adam Ingram: Details of UK troop reductions in Bosnia-Herzegovina were provided in my statement on 1 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1083. Following European force transition, there will be fewer than 50 UK personnel working within Bosnia-Herzegovina. This grouping will provide further support to the European force and NATO headquarters and the peace support operations training centre in Sarajevo.
	There are approximately 175 UK military personnel in Kosovo, the majority of whom provide intelligence support to the NATO led Kosovo force. In addition, a small number of staff contribute to security sector reform and work within the Office of the Kosovo Protection Corps Coordinator, the UN Mission in Kosovo and the British Office. The UK has no plans to reduce personnel numbers within Kosovo in the foreseeable future or to change our operational remit. We will keep our contribution under review in order to ensure it remains relevant and appropriate.
	We will also maintain our commitment to the pan-Balkans operational reserve force.

Defence Diversification Agency

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the Defence Diversification Agency.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 23 March 2007
	The Department is in formal consultation with the trade unions and industry over proposals to close the Defence Diversification Agency. The House will be informed of the outcome from this process in due course.

Defence: Expenditure

Christopher Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the defence planned programme budget (excluding funds from the Unallocated Special Reserve) was used to finance operations in  (a) Iraq,  (b) Afghanistan,  (c) the Balkans and  (d) other operations in each of the last six years.

Adam Ingram: Net additional costs of military operations are not normally funded from the Defence core programme budget. Since 2001-02, the net additional costs of operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans, Sierra Leone, the Gulf, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been funded from the Treasury Reserve.
	No additional funding is sought for those items which would normally be paid for from the core programme budget, such as salaries, and information is not available on those sunk defence costs which contributed to operations.
	The costs of operations carried out at the request of other organisations, e.g. UN peacekeeping/observer operations and DfID humanitarian operations, are also recovered from the requesting authority on a similar basis. Such operations are similarly not, therefore, a cost to the Department.
	The only circumstance in which the Department does not raise charges is for the evacuation of UK non-combatant personnel from a place of danger to the nearest place of safety, such as last year's evacuation from the Lebanon to Cyprus. As we do not recover costs for such operations, we do not record their costs separately from those within the Defence programme.

Departments: Flags

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which flags are flown from Ministry of Defence buildings on which days.

Derek Twigg: The information requested is held centrally only for MOD main building, at which the Union flag, the White Ensign, the Army flag, the Royal Air Force Ensign, and two joint service flags are flown on a daily basis. An additional four Union flags are flown on flag days.
	All Service and major commands and headquarters are required to fly the Union Flag daily in accordance with Queen's Regulations. In addition, they are permitted to fly flags signifying the relevant single service and commander, corps, regimental and station flags.

Departments: Flags

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Union flag is flown from the Ministry of Defence main building on each day of the year.

Derek Twigg: The Union flag is flown daily on the Ministry of Defence main building.

EH101 Helicopters

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Merlin 1 helicopters are  (a) in service,  (b) under repair and  (c) being cannibalised for parts; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: On 1 March 2007, the details for the Royal Navy's Merlin helicopter fleet were as follows:
	
		
			  Helicopter type  Departmental fleet  In service  Under repair  Other 
			 Merlin Mk 1 42 26 7 9 
		
	
	"In service" aircraft are those in the forward fleet and available to the front line and training units. Aircraft "Under repair" are those in the depth fleet which are undergoing planned routine depth maintenance. "Other" aircraft are those awaiting depth maintenance; in long-term storage; undergoing trials/development activity or subject to modifications with industry.
	Within the forward fleet controlled cannibalisation is conducted as part of normal business. Cannibalised aircraft are routinely returned to service when the necessary spare parts become available. Of the aircraft in the "Under repair" category, four are subject to controlled cannibalisation to support aircraft maintenance.

European Fighter Aircraft

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Eurofighter Typhoons are to be supplied to the Royal Air Force; what the estimated cost is of such Eurofighter Typhoons; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The United Kingdom has, to date, contracted for 144 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft for the Royal Air Force. A decision on the third production buy of the aircraft, known as tranche 3, has still to be taken and discussions with partner nations and industry are expected to continue during 2007. The unit production cost of tranche 1 and 2 Eurofighter Typhoon, as published in Major Projects Report 2006, is £66.7 million.

Harrier GR7

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of  (a) the Royal Navy's fleet air arm and  (b) the role of the Harrier GR7 aircraft; and whether there are any proposals to replace the existing Harrier aircraft.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 23 March 2007
	The fleet air arm will remain a vital element of the Royal Navy and will continue to be equipped with a range of highly capable aircraft fulfilling a variety of operational roles. The Harrier GR7 is a combat aircraft which is optimised for ground attack operations. The GR7 is currently undergoing a series of major improvements which will see the aircraft redesignated as the Harrier GR9.

Identification Friend or Foe Systems

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2007,  Official Report, column 54W, on identification friend/foe systems, why he has no plans to fit Successor IFF to Hercules C130J and Tornado GR4 aircraft; and whether he plans to fit Successor IFF to Typhoon aircraft.

Adam Ingram: To confirm the answer of 12 March 2007,  Official Report, column 54W, Tornado GR4 is in the process of being fitted with the Successor Identification Friend or Foe (SIFF) system transponder capability.
	Hercules C130J and Typhoon aircraft are both supplied with an integrated IFF capability that is fully compatible and inter-operable with SIFF.

Iraq and Afghanistan

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces have received medical treatment in military hospitals in  (a) Iraq and  (b) Afghanistan since the invasion of the country concerned; and how many members of the armed forces serving in each country (i) were returned to the UK for medical treatment and (ii) had their medical treatment carried out in another country, broken down by country, over the same period.

Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence publishes data on battle and non-battle casualties that have resulted from our operations in Iraq from March 2003 and Afghanistan since January 2006. The best centrally available casualty statistics can be found on the Ministry of Defence website:
	http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/Operations Factsheets
	Data on the destination of aeromedical evacuations are held centrally only when it involved moving a patient out of the region since 1 January 2006. They do not, for example, include shorter evacuations such as those to the US medical facility at Bald in Iraq or from Afghanistan to Seeb in Oman. A number of personnel from both theatres are evacuated to the hospital at the Ramstein US airbase in Germany. These personnel are normally those who have been treated in US hospitals in theatre and are being medically evacuated through US channels, or those for whom domestically it is better to be treated in Germany (for example if they are normally stationed there).
	 Iraq
	Between March 2003 and 31 December 2005 the total number of UK military and civilian personnel who were treated at the Shaibah "Role 3" field hospital in Iraq was 6,609. Of these, 226 were categorised as wounded in action, including as a result of hostile action, and 6,383 were categorised as suffering from disease or non-battle injuries.
	Between March 2003 and 31 December 2005 some 4,000 military and civilian personnel (including a small number of Iraqis) were aeromedically evacuated from Iraq on medical grounds, whatever the reason.
	On 1 January 2006 improved casualty reporting processes were implemented. Between 1 January 2006 and 28 February 2007:
	775 UK military personnel were aeromedically evacuated from Iraq on medical grounds, whatever the reason; of these:
	723 service personnel were evacuated to the UK.
	52 service personnel were evacuated to Ramstein in Germany.
	142 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to UK field hospitals and categorised as wounded in action.
	1,353 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to UK field hospitals for disease or non-battle injuries.
	 Afghanistan
	For the period between 1 January 2006 and 28 February 2007:
	312 UK military personnel were aeromedically evacuated from Afghanistan on medical grounds, whatever the reason; of these:
	299 service personnel were evacuated to the UK.
	13 service personnel were evacuated to Ramstein in Germany.
	108 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to UK field hospitals and categorised as wounded in action.
	206 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to UK field hospitals for disease or non-battle injuries.
	A figure for those evacuated or admitted to hospital prior to these dates is not centrally available. The Defence Analytical Service Agency is currently reviewing available historic aeromedical data and these will be published on the website once the process is complete.

Iraq and Afghanistan

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the deaths of British soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have been attributed to defective rifles.

Adam Ingram: None of the fatalities of British soldiers in Iraq since 2003, and Afghanistan since 2001 have been recorded as attributed to defective rifles.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress is being made with the development of the US-UK Joint Strike Fighter; and how much the project has cost.

Adam Ingram: The Joint Strike Fighter programme remains on schedule with the first development aircraft completing its ninth flight including full after-burner test in flight. The UK has now received the necessary assurances on technology transfer from the US; this will allow the UK to meet its operational sovereignty requirements. The next phase of the programme has now come into effect, with the UK, US and other international partners having signed up to the production, sustainment and follow-on development memorandum of understanding with the US.
	At February 2007 £1.062 billion has been incurred on the JSF project covering concept, assessment and demonstration phases.

Military Decorations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many medals for gallantry have been  (a) awarded and  (b) awarded posthumously since 2003.

Derek Twigg: Awards for gallantry and meritorious service on operations are published routinely in the Defence Supplement of the  London Gazette, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. The relevant references from 2003 to date are as follows:
	
		
			  Date  Issue 
			 29 April 2003 No. 56920 
			 30 September 2003 No. 57070 
			 31 October 2003 No. 57100 
			 23 April 2004 No. 57269 
			 7 September 2004 No. 57402 
			 18 March 2005 No. 57587 
			 18 March 2005 No. 57588 
			 9 September 2005 No. 57751 
			 24 March 2006 No. 57836 
			 8 September 2006 No. 58092 
			 15 December 2006 No. 58182 
			 15 December 2006 No. 58183 
		
	
	Awards made posthumously are included in the main lists with the suffix 'killed in action' following an individual's name.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum: Families

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the process for removing failed asylum seeker families.

Liam Byrne: The process for removing failed asylum seeker families is set out in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) Family Removals Policy notice (EPU 2/06), and the Operational Enforcement Manual chapter 58—Family Detention Visits, both of which are publicly available on the IND website.

Departments: Diaries

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who has been allowed access to diaries of Ministers and officials in his Department in the last three months.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Home Office employs approximately 78,000 officials. Identifying who would have access to each official's diary would be a disproportionate cost. Access to ministerial diaries is limited to those persons who support Ministers in performing their ministerial duties.

Departments: Ministers

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Ministers in his Department have had meetings with former Ministers of the Department in the last three months.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 26 March 2007
	Home Office Ministers meet regularly with ministerial colleagues and former ministerial colleagues in the course of performing their ministerial duties. In so doing, each acts in accordance with the ministerial code.

Departments: Paper

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to ensure his Department's economical use of paper.

Liam Byrne: The Home Office is committed to meeting all the targets for Sustainable Operations on the Government estate, which include targets to reduce waste and increase recycling. Actions that have been taken specifically on paper include the purchase of recycled paper as standard for internal printing and photocopying, and the setting of many printers to automatically print double-sided. We have also run articles on the Home Office intranet advising staff about reducing paper wastage by, for example, not printing off e-mails. Staff are also encouraged to re-use paper as scrap, where possible, before putting it in the recycling facilities.

Departments: Public Expenditure

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the expenditure threshold is above which spending decisions by his Department require Treasury approval.

Liam Byrne: The Home Office requires specific Treasury approval to commit resources and/or incur expenditure above the following thresholds:
	Capital projects—information technology, lands and buildings, on a private finance initiative basis or otherwise—£100,000,000;
	Disposal of fixed assets—£5,000,000;
	 Losses:
	Write-offs—£25,000,000
	Bad debts—£10,000,000
	Impairments—£10,000,000
	Fraud/theft—£5,000,000
	Provisions—£5,000,000
	Abandoned/waived claims—£50,000
	Gifts (cash or assets)—£100,000
	Indemnities—£50,000
	Compensation payments—£20,000

Deportation: Democratic Republic of Congo

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo before deporting foreign nationals to that country; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Every asylum and human rights claim is considered on its individual merits in accordance with our international obligations and taking full account of conditions in the country concerned as they impact on the individual claimant. Information about the conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including the security situation, is obtained from a wide range of governmental and non-governmental sources, human rights organisations and the media. This information is published in regularly updated Home Office Country of Origin Information Reports. The latest Country of Origin Information Report on the Democratic Republic of Congo was published on 14 February 2007, and can be accessed on the Home Office website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/country_reports.html
	It is important for the integrity of our asylum system and to prevent unfounded applications that we are able to enforce the return of those who have no right to remain in the UK. The asylum decision making and independent appeals system exist to consider in each case whether the individual claimant would be at risk in their country of origin and we will only seek to return those who have been found not to need our protection.

Deportation: Terrorism

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been deported from the UK since 24 August 2005 on the ground that their presence is not conducive to the public good due to their involvement in fomenting or provoking others to commit acts of terrorism.

Liam Byrne: Since 24 August 2005 no individuals have been deported from the UK specifically on the ground of involvement in fomenting or provoking others to commit acts of terrorism. However, such acts come within the scope of the power to deport a person because their presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good and are listed under the "unacceptable behaviour" (UB) provisions announced on 24 August 2005. To date there has been one deportation on UB grounds.

Entry Clearances: Fees and Charges

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations his Department held with community representatives before he announced the proposed new levels of fees for visas and in-country fee levels.

Liam Byrne: A public consultation was conducted for an eight week period between 30 October and 22 December. The consultation document was available on the Home Office website and over 3,000 copies were sent to individuals and organisations. Almost 300 documents were sent to community representatives and another 180 were sent to foreign embassies and missions.
	340 responses to the consultation document were received in total, of which 10 were from community representative groups and six from foreign embassies.
	In addition, we ran 13 sector based stakeholder events with over 400 participants. These included key stakeholders in the heath and social care, education and business sectors, as well as diplomats and representatives of the travel and tourism sector.
	A full copy of the publication 'A Response to the Consultation on a New Charging Regime for Immigration and Nationality Fees' can be found on the Home Office website at:
	www.homeoffice.gov.uk.

Golden Arrow Communications

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what meetings  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials in his Department have had with Golden Arrow Communications.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 26 March 2007
	A review of ministerial diaries has indicated that no current Home Office Minister has met with representatives of Golden Arrow Communications in their official capacity. The Home Office employs approximately 78,000 officials. Identifying which of these officials have held meetings with representatives from Golden Arrow Communications could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Immigration Controls: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigration control staff are deployed in each Northern Ireland airport; where those staff are based; and what arrangements are in place for transporting such staff to their places of work.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 19 March 2007
	There are 14 immigration officers and two chief immigration officers who are all based at Belfast International airport.
	These staff are also deployed to Belfast City and Derry airports when required.
	All staff are responsible for their own travel arrangements to their places of work.

Immigration: Appeals

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on the treatment of rape victims in immigration appeal hearings; what guidelines are in place for immigration judges in considering such claims; if he will commission research into this matter; and if he will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) has considered the recent report 'Misjudging Rape: Breaching Gender Guidelines and International Law in Asylum Appeals' published by the Black Women's Rape Action Project (BWRAP) and Women Against Rape. Additionally, it has recently received representations on similar issues from stakeholders groups such as Asylum Aid and the Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture.
	The BWRAP report recommended that the Asylum Gender Guidelines (2000) be applied by immigration judges in all asylum appeals where rape is cited in the grounds of appeal. The guidelines never had binding authority on the tribunal and are out of date in respect of current law. The guidelines are framed very much as a statement of what the law is on particular aspects of a refugee claim. It is not the role of the tribunal to make statements on the law, save through its jurisprudence.
	Immigration judges are independent members of the judiciary who determine cases on the evidence that is placed before them. Judicial training is facilitated by senior and experienced members of the judiciary. All immigration judges receive training in diversity and refugee law and are encouraged to keep up to date with legal developments both in the UK and nationally. All judiciary have access to the Judicial Studies Board (JSB) Equal Treatment Benchbook as well as country guidance determinations, Home Office country reports and wider information, and case law of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and higher courts.
	There are currently no plans for the DCA to commission research into this area. It is not for the AIT, as an independent tribunal, to commission objective research into such issues.

National Crime Squad

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) arrests were made and  (b) convictions were secured by the National Crime Squad in each year since 1998, broken down by offence.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 22 March 2007
	The data available are for the four NCS threat areas, as shown in the following table. The data between 1998-89 and 2001-02 are not complete.
	
		
			  National crime squad—performance data 
			   1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			  Arrests 
			 Class A drug trafficking — — 450 512 570 674 629 562 
			 Organised immigration crime — — 0 31 98 115 147 188 
			 Hi-tech crime — — 0 29 28 55 54 45 
			 Other crime — — 488 306 200 92 157 129 
			  (a) Total number of arrests 1,027 854 938 878 896 936 987 924 
			  
			  Charged and prosecuted 
			 Class A drug trafficking — — — — 402 445 417 380 
			 Organised immigration crime — — — — 44 40 71 43 
			 Hi-tech crime — — — — 28 37 29 16 
			 Other crime — — — — 117 47 74 81 
			 Total number charged and prosecuted 685 583 577 585 591 569 591 520 
			  
			  Convictions 
			 Class A drug trafficking — — — — 293 238 219 309 
			 Organised immigration crime — — — — 6 19 29 54 
			 Hi-tech crime — — — — 0 9 6 14 
			 Other crime — — — — 59 69 32 27 
			  (b) Total number of persons convicted — — — — 358 335 286 404

North Sea Camp Prison: Lincolnshire

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what capital funding he plans to commit to North Sea Camp Prison, Lincolnshire in each of the next three financial years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: A sewerage and drainage repairs scheme is planned for 2008 with a current estimated cost of £769,000. No other schemes are currently planned for the next three financial years.

Offenders: Suspended Sentences

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offenders convicted of  (a) burglary,  (b) aggravated bodily harm,  (c) robbery,  (d) supplying heroin,  (e) grievous bodily harm,  (f) theft from the person and  (g) receiving stolen goods received non-custodial sentences in each year since 1999.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested is contained in the following table; 2006 data will be available in the autumn.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.
	
		
			  Offenders( 1)  sentenced to non-custodial sentences( 2)  for various offences, England and Wales 
			  Offence  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 Burglary 
			 Number sentenced 14,834 12,887 12,079 12,920 13,419 13,225 12,694 
			  Percentage of all sentenced  50.6  48.3  49.0  49.0  52.9  54.8  56.0 
			 
			 Assaults occasioning actual bodily harm(3) 
			 Number sentenced 13,007 12,169 10,783 11,007 11,110 10,581 10,874 
			  Percentage of all sentenced  74.1  72.4  71.2  72.9  73.6  71.8  68.1 
			 
			 Robbery 
			 Number sentenced 1,531 1,572 2,040 1,824 2,154 2,417 2,672 
			  Percentage of all sentenced  27.1  26.4  29.8  23.6  29.4  32.2  37.4 
			 Supplying heroin(4) 
			 Number sentenced 306 321 351 323 456 446 572 
			  Percentage of all sentenced  15.0  14.4  15.7  14.8  18.5  17.5  24.1 
			 
			 Wounding etc with intent to do grievous bodily harm 
			 Number sentenced 120 112 131 141 118 139 135 
			  Percentage of all sentenced  8.5  8.2  9.2  9.2  7.9  8.2  8.1 
			 
			 Wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm(3) 
			 Number sentenced 2,191 2,000 1,853 2,056 2,084 1,919 1,844 
			  Percentage of all sentenced  47.0  44.3  41.9  44.2  46.4  44.0  43.2 
			 
			 Theft from the person 
			 Number sentenced 4,034 3,861 4,394 4,492 4,623 4,664 4,571 
			  Percentage of all sentenced  65.1  62.7  66.7  65.2  66.8  67.4  68.8 
			 
			 Receiving stolen goods 
			 Number sentenced 10,407 8,812 7,871 7,820 7,308 6,720 5,802 
			  Percentage of all sentenced  77.2  76.4  76.8  75.8  76.8  77.6  78.0 
			 (1) Principal offence basis. (2) Absolute and conditional discharge, fine, community sentence and otherwise dealt with (but excluding suspended sentence). (3) Including racially and religiously aggravated offences. (4) Including offences of possession with intent to supply.  Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.  Source: RDS-NOMS, Home Office

Passports: Children

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had on the compilation of a fingerprint database for children between the ages of 11 and 15 who apply for a passport; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ryan: As set out in the Strategic Action Plan for the National Identity Scheme published in December 2006, the Identity and Passport Service has anticipated that it may be necessary to record biometrics for passports issued to children over the age of 11 but no final decision has been taken on this.
	At present, EU regulations specify no minimum age for the recording of fingerprint biometrics. The United Kingdom has participated in preliminary discussions with our EU partners concerning the establishment of a minimum age for the recording of fingerprint biometrics in passports.

Passports: Disabled

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements his Department is making for disabled first-time passport applicants to attend interviews at Identity Passport Service offices; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ryan: All interview offices are compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. For example, they will have hearing loops and a wheelchair user will be able to manoeuvre a wheelchair anywhere within the public areas of an interview office.
	Those people who need to have an interview as part of the application process will be sent a letter asking them to telephone IPS to make an appointment at one of the 69 interview offices. The letter asks the applicant to tell IPS if they have any particular requirements, for example, if they have a hearing impairment or learning difficulties. The applicant will also be sent a leaflet that explains the interview process, confirms that they should tell us of any particular requirements they have and gives examples.
	When an applicant, or their representative, telephones our call centre to make an interview appointment, the caller will be asked if the applicant has any particular requirements.

Passports: Personation

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken to combat identity fraud in the process of issuing passports.

Joan Ryan: The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has developed a comprehensive counter fraud strategy to combat identity fraud in the passport issuing process. This strategy includes:
	checking biographical information to ensure that the identity claimed on the application form is real, living, and can be linked to the customer through cross checks against a range of public and private sector databases
	the development of facial recognition systems to check applicant images against a database of images of suspected fraudsters
	checking applicants against increasingly sophisticated internal watch files including the database of passports reported lost or stolen
	strengthening its business processes for identity authentication, and training and support for passport examiners and specialist fraud units
	interviews for all first-time adult customers.
	These measures are only the latest in a long running programme of counter fraud initiatives developed by IPS. In the last five years IPS has:
	Significantly increased security in passport book through the development and issue from last year of the ePassport which incorporates an RF chip and other advanced physical security features.
	From 2002 created a database of around 750,000 infant death records to counter "Day of the Jackal" type fraud.
	Introduced secure delivery of passports to customers from February 2004 resulting in an 80 per cent. reduction in losses of passport in the post.
	Created better arrangements for the reporting, recording and sharing of data on lost/stolen passports. This database of around 920,000 records is now shared with UK border control and border control authorities worldwide via Interpol.
	Established fraud and intelligence units in each of its seven passport issuing offices and provided professional, accredited training for all investigators.
	Introduced the Passport Validation Service which enables approved government agencies to validate the status of a UK passport which has been presented to them as evidence of identity. The service is also available to organisations regulated by the Financial Services Authority that have to comply with the "Know Your Customer" statement of good practice requirements.
	On an operational level, IPS are using intelligence received and data on known frauds to actively manage passport fraud identified after the issue of the passport. It is currently investigating some 2000 cases. Utilising intelligence on known fraud patterns, other fraud will be identified through the searches IPS are conducting on its database of 50 million passport records. This will be a similar set of exercises to that successfully conducted on infant deaths. This is an ongoing process and will be strengthened in November 2007 when IPS has access to adult death information. IPS are also developing plans to use facial recognition to check for duplicate identity fraud.
	All the information uncovered on fraudulently obtained passports is passed to the UK Immigration Service for use at all UK ports. Experience shows that this is successful in disrupting criminal activities.

Passports: Photographs

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1363W, on passports: photographs, how many and what proportion of applications were rejected from applicants living in Scotland in each of the last three years.

Joan Ryan: Data on passport photograph rejections are not kept in a way that allows a figure to be obtained for a specific area. Although passport applications originating from Scotland are dealt with by the Glasgow passport office, they also deal with applications emanating from elsewhere in the UK as a consequence of their catchment area which includes part of England. Additionally, IPS routinely transfers work between offices in order to provide the most efficient and effective service to the public.
	The figures that are available show that the reject rate for the Glasgow office is in keeping with the overall reject rate of around 5.5 to 6 per cent.

Passports: Somerset

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions his Department had with Somerset county council before determining the location of passport interview centres.

Joan Ryan: holding answer 26 March 2007
	Consultation on the proposed location of passport remote interview facilities in sparsely populated parts of the UK, as defined by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), was undertaken with local and regional bodies in those areas. Somerset is not defined as a sparsely populated area in this context.

Passports: Somerset

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the merits of hosting remote access facilities for passport interview centres in Frome in Somerset.

Joan Ryan: holding answer 26 March 2007
	Passport remote interview facilities are located in sparsely populated parts of the UK, as defined by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Somerset is not defined as a sparsely populated area in this context.

Prison Service: Vacancies

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison officer vacancies there were in each prison establishment at the end of each quarter since January 2000; what the expected vacancy rate is projected to be at each establishment for each quarter in the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Information on past shortfalls of officers for each establishment is contained in the tables. Information on staff shortfalls is not available for the public sector before March 2001. The shortfalls incorporate the contribution of contracted supplementary hours.
	Although projections of vacancy levels are not available for public sector establishments, officer staffing levels are monitored regularly to ensure that they are within acceptable operating margins. Four contracted establishments have been able to provide projected vacancy numbers.
	
		
			  Private sector prison service establishments—prison custody officer vacancies 
			   2000  2001  2002 
			  PCO vacancies  Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4  Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4  Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4 
			 Altcourse (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Ashfield n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 18 
			 Bronzefield (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— 
			 Doncaster n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Dovegate (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Forest Bank n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Lowdham — — — 5 9 3 5 2 — 6 10 3 
			 Parc(3) 24 — — 18 15 11 9 8 19 4 7 1 
			 Peterborough (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— 
			 Rye Hill (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Wolds (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
		
	
	
		
			   2003  2004  2005 
			  PCO vacancies  Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4  Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4  Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4 
			 Altcourse (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Ashfield — 10 4 1 — 15 25 48 5 11 21 10 
			 Bronzefield (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— — — — — 15 — 
			 Doncaster 7 31 17 9 23 1 13 4 12 7 16 7 
			 Dovegate 9 7 — 10 — 10 22 1 10 9 10 7 
			 Forest Bank n/a n/a n/a — — 7 11 — 11 — — 3 
			 Lowdham 4 4 13 6 9 — 8 2 3 1 9 6 
			 Parc(3) 8 23 — 13 12 31 — 17 16 2 21 15 
			 Peterborough (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— 20 — — 10 
			 Rye Hill (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Wolds (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
		
	
	
		
			   2006 
			  PCO vacancies  Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4 
			 Altcourse (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Ashfield 1 9 2 1 
			 Bronzefield — — — — 
			 Doncaster 9 7 10 6 
			 Dovegate 13 14 2 9 
			 Forest Bank 3 — 3 2 
			 Lowdham 7 10 7 5 
			 Parc(3) 1 9 12 18 
			 Peterborough — — 4 11 
			 Rye Hill (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Wolds (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 (1) No information provided by contractor. (2) Not yet opened. (3) Information provided by HMP Parc is for the number of prison custody officers (PCOs) staff who joined to fill vacancies.  Notes: 1. Where an establishment has recorded a surplus of staff this has been shown as zero in the table. 2. HMP Bronzefield did not open until 2004 3. HMP Peterborough did not open until 2005. 4. Where information is not available it is due to information not being obtainable because of the variations in computer systems used by contracted companies. 
		
	
	
		
			  Private sector prison service establishments—projected prison custody officer vacancies 
			   2007 
			  Establishment  Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4 
			 Altcourse (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Ashfield 2 5 3 1 
			 Bronzefield n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Doncaster n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Dovegate 16 7 7 7 
			 Forest Bank n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Lowdham 5 0 5 0 
			 Parc 19 5 1 0 
			 Peterborough n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Rye Hill (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Wolds (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 (1) No information provided.  Note: Figures for 2007 are projections of vacancies that may be available and are subject to change.

Prisoners: Foreigners

David Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convicted prisoners in England and Wales are foreign nationals; and what percentage of the total number of convicted prisoners this represents.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There were 8,328 convicted foreign national prisoners detained in prisons in England and Wales at the end of January 2007. This represents 12 per cent. of the total number of convicted prisoners detained.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Prisons: Deaths

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people aged over 65 years died in prison in each of the last three years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested in respect to deaths of prisoners above the age of 65 is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Total number of deaths for prisoners aged over 65 years 
			   Number 
			 2004 33 
			 2005 25 
			 2006 22

Prisons: Drugs

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the  (a) resources available to prisons to provide drug misuse rehabilitation and  (b) number of prisoners requiring this treatment.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The following table shows details of funding allocated for the totality of prison drug treatment for the years 2005-06 and 2006-07:
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Intervention  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Clinical services (maintenance-prescribing, detoxification) 11.3 23.3 
			 CARATs (Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Through-care service) 26.7 31.7 
			 Drug rehabilitation programmes 19.4 19.4 
			 YPSMS (Young Persons Substance Misuse Service) 2.9 2.9 
			 Total drug treatment 60.3 77.3 
		
	
	Data on the number of prisoners requiring drug treatment are not recorded in the way requested. Instead, prisons rely on epidemiological data which show that, on average, approximately 55 per cent. of prisoners report a serious drug problem prior to prison, with 80 per cent. reporting some prior misuse.
	The following table shows the number of prisoners who have benefited from drug treatment over the past two years (for which full-year data are available). Individual prisoners may engage in more than one form of treatment:
	
		
			  Intervention  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Clinical services—entrants to maintenance-prescribing and/or detoxification programmes 53,903 53,323 
			 CARATs—substance misuse triage assessments conducted 59,025 (1)74,588 
			 Drug rehabilitation programmes—   
			 Entrants 7,621 10,743 
			 Completions 4,902 8,011 
			 (1 )Of which 8,709 juvenile/YPSMS element.

Prisons: Mental Health

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the proportion of prisoners in need of mental health care who should be treated in secure NHS facilities.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Responsibility for prison health care services now rests with the Department of Health.
	Although large numbers of people in prison have a diagnosed mental disorder(s), most do not meet the criteria for detention set out in the Mental Health Act 1983. Those prisoners who are assessed as being too ill to remain in prison are already being transferred to a hospital setting appropriate to their care and security needs.
	In 2006, 31 per cent. more prisoners with mental illness too severe for prison were transferred to hospital than in 2002—up to 941 from 722. There has also been a significant decrease in the number of people waiting over 12 weeks for a transfer. In the quarter ending December 2006, 38 prisoners were waiting, down from 62 in the quarter ending June 2005.

Prisons: Patient Complaints

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether NHS patients' complaints procedures have been available for use by prisoners since the NHS assumed responsibility for prison health.

Gerry Sutcliffe: In April 2006, the NHS assumed responsibility for the provision of primary healthcare services in all publicly run prison establishments. Under this responsibility, prisoners in England and Wales are able to access the NHS complaints procedure.
	Prison Service instruction 14/2005, "Handling Complaints about Prison Health Care" gives further detail about the process and is available on the Prison Service website at:
	http://psi.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/PSI_2005_14_complaints_about_prison_healthcare.doc.
	A copy has been placed in the Library.

Romania/Bulgaria

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate the Government have made of the number of people who may come to the UK seeking work from  (a) Romania and  (b) Bulgaria in 2007.

Liam Byrne: The Government have not made any official estimates of the numbers of migrants from Bulgaria and Romania that might migrate to the UK to seek work.

Secure Accommodation: Young Offenders

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2007,  Official Report, column 2329W, on secure accommodation: young offenders, what measures are  (a) in place and  (b) under consideration to create contingency places in the Youth Justice secure estate; how many places each measure is expected to create; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 23 March 2007
	The Youth Justice Board has been developing extra capacity in the secure estate for children and young people in response to recent increased demand and has added 342 additional places since April 2004. On 22 March, 237 available places in the estate were unoccupied.
	The Board's Strategy for the Secure Estate for Children and Young People sets out plans for further developing the estate over the longer term.
	The following measures are in hand to create extra capacity in the short- to medium-term:
	the Board is exploring the possibility of purchasing more places at Feltham YOI - which is in an area of high population demand. If this can be achieved, some places elsewhere in the estate would be made over to the over-18 estate. There would be a net increase of 24 under-18 places;
	the Board is increasing capacity at Hindley YOI. It is planned that the programme of work will be completed by July 2007, with a net increase of 48 places.
	As a contingency measure, the board is considering spot-purchasing up to 20 additional places in secure children's homes.
	In the longer term, the board plans to create several high-dependency units in the Prison Service estate for more vulnerable boys. The first will be at Wetherby YOI and is scheduled to open in summer 2008. The opening of the unit will secure a net increase of 48 places.

Security: Heathrow Airport

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people took part in the miSense scheme at Heathrow Airport Terminal 3.

Liam Byrne: 2,159 volunteers were enrolled in the miSense scheme at Heathrow airport terminal 3.

Security: Heathrow Airport

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the outcome of the  (a) miSense scheme,  (b) miSenseplus scheme and  (c) miSenseallclear scheme.

Liam Byrne: The Simplifying Passenger Travel United Kingdom Regional Group is currently conducting a detailed evaluation of all three miSense schemes. As a key partner the Home Office is fully involved in this process and is keen to identify and build on the lessons learned. A summary of the evaluation is expected to be made available to the public in April and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.

Security: Heathrow Airport

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people enrolled in the miSenseplus scheme at Heathrow Airport Terminal 3.

Liam Byrne: 1,007 volunteers enrolled in the miSensePlus trial at Heathrow airport terminal 3.

Security: Heathrow Airport

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which UK Government agencies he expects to be involved in the miSenseallclear scheme.

Liam Byrne: MiSenseallclear ran for a two-week period during February 2007 and was operated by the Joint Border Operations Centre which is staffed by officers from HMRC, IND, Police and UKVisas.

Security: Heathrow Airport

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what central government funding was made available to fund the  (a) miSense,  (b) miSenseplus and  (c) miSenseallclear scheme.

Liam Byrne: This trial was a collaborative venture between members of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Simplifying Passenger Travel (SPT) initiative. Led by BAA, the UK Regional Group also comprised Accenture, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, IER, Raytheon, Sagem, SITA and IND along with a number of associate partners. Each partner provided resources at their own cost; in the case of central Government this amounted to staff costs only. The use of collaboration groups enables low cost, low risk trial delivery as costs and risks are distributed to the collaboration partner that is best able to manage the risk.

Wellingborough Prison

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Independent Monitoring Board members are  (a) allocated to and  (b) in post at HM Prison Wellingborough; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Independent Monitoring Board at HMP Wellingborough as at 6 March 2007 had an official complement of 11 members and at that date 10 members were in post.

Young Offender Institutions: Ethnic Groups

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of prisoners in each young offender institution are from ethnic minorities, broken down by  (a) race and  (b) religion.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 15 March 2007
	 Information on  (a) numbers and percentages of ethnic minority detainees in all young offender and juvenile institutions in England and Wales as at 31 January 2007 and  (b) the numbers by religious affiliation can be found in the following tables.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT .systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	
		
			  (a) To show numbers of under 21s and young offenders and their break-down by racial group 
			As percentage of all 
			   All ethnic minority  Ethnic minorities  Mixed  Asian or Asian  British  Black or Black British  Chinese or other 
			 All 2,436 28 5 6 16 1 
			 Ashfield 92 23 4 7 11 0 
			 Aylesbury 217 49 6 8 34 2 
			 Brinsford 108 38 9 9 20 0 
			 Chelmsford 20 33 5 10 18 0 
			 Cookham Wood 1 11 0 0 11 0 
			 Castington 14 9 2 1 6 0 
			 Drake Hall 3 20 7 0 13 0 
			 Deerbolt 53 12 3 5 5 0 
			 East Sutton Park 5 56 0 12 44 0 
			 Eastwood Park 9 13 6 3 4 0 
			 Elmley 3 13 5 0 8 0 
			 Foston Hall 3 34 22 0 11 0 
			 Feltham 235 59 9 6 42 1 
			 Guys Marsh 8 12 4 0 7 0 
			 Glen Parva 106 20 5 5 9 1 
			 Hollesley Bay (Warren Hill) 4 23 11 6 6 0 
			 Huntercombe 172 48 10 7 30 0 
			 Moorland Open 14 31 2 26 2 0 
			 Hindley 61 15 4 3 7 0 
			 Highdown 29 49 9 4 37 0 
			 Holloway 27 28 7 0 18 3 
			 Lancaster Farms 32 8 1 3 3 0 
			 Moorland 92 26 5 7 13 0 
			 New Hall 7 11 5 2 5 0 
			 Northallerton 20 8 2 3 3 0 
			 Norwich 26 22 4 4 13 0 
			 Onley 83 35 4 11 19 1 
			 Portland 228 42 6 5 30 1 
			 Parc 23 11 1 2 8 0 
			 Rochester 172 45 7 7 30 1 
			 Reading 1 10 0 10 0 0 
			 Stoke Heath 119 19 4 6 8 0 
			 Swinfen Hall 201 32 4 10 18 1 
			 Styal 5 12 2 0 7 2 
			 Thorn Cross 38 15 3 7 5 0 
			 Warren Hill 79 35 8 7 17 3 
			 Werrington 48 30 10 5 15 1 
			 Wetherby 78 23 10 4 8 0 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) To show the proportions of religious groups within the ethnic minority population 
			  Percentage( 1) 
			   Anglican  Free Church  Roman Catholic  Christian  Buddhist  Hindu  Muslim  Sikh  Not-recognised and other  No religion 
			 All 7 0 2 1 0 0 10 0 0 6 
			 Ashfield 8 0 2 0 0 0 10 0 0 4 
			 Aylesbury 15 0 4 2 0 1 20 0 0 5 
			 Brinsford 10 0 2 1 0 0 11 1 0 13 
			 Chelmsford 10 0 2 2 0 2 13 0 0 5 
			 Cookham Wood 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 
			 Castington 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 
			 Drake Hall 7 7 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 
			 Deerbolt 3 0 1 0 0 0 5 0 0 4 
			 East Sutton Park 33 0 11 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 
			 Eastwood Park 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 6 
			 Elmley 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 5 
			 Foston Hall 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0 22 
			 Feltham 16 2 8 3 0 0 23 0 0 6 
			 Guys Marsh 4 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 
			 Glen Parva 5 0 1 1 0 0 6 0 0 7 
			 Hollesley Bay (Warren Hill) 6 0 0 0 0 6 6 0 0 6 
			 Huntercombe 18 1 3 1 0 0 18 0 0 6 
			 Moorland Open 4 0 0 0 0 0 20 4 0 2 
			 Hindley 3 0 1 1 0 0 4 0 0 6 
			 Highdown 16 0 5 0 0 0 26 0 0 2 
			 Holloway 7 0 4 3 1 0 4 0 0 7 
			 Lancaster Farms 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 
			 Moorland 5 0 2 0 1 0 8 1 0 8 
			 New Hall 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 8 
			 Northallerton 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 
			 Norwich 4 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0 7 
			 Onley 8 0 3 3 0 0 15 1 0 6 
			 Portland 9 1 4 4 0 0 19 0 0 5 
			 Parc 1 0 1 1 0 0 3 1 0 4 
			 Rochester 15 0 3 3 0 1 17 1 0 6 
			 Reading 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 
			 Stoke Heath 3 0 3 0 0 0 6 0 0 6 
			 Swinfen Hall 8 0 2 2 0 0 12 1 0 7 
			 Styal 2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 
			 Thorn Cross 2 0 3 0 0 0 7 0 0 4 
			 Warren Hill 10 0 1 1 0 0 11 0 1 10 
			 Werrington 4 0 5 1 1 0 8 1 1 10 
			 Wetherby 4 0 1 0 0 0 5 1 0 11 
			 (1) In each case the figure is the percentage the religious group is of the total establishment population.

Young Offenders

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young offenders in custody committed  (a) acts of self-harm and  (b) suicide in each year since 2001.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The exact information requested is not available. The table provides estimates in respect of those aged 18 to 20 inclusive derived from a national recording system of each incident of self-harm, the majority of which are minor. The improved system was only introduced in 2003 and figures before this time should not be compared directly with those since that date.
	The Home Office definition of prisoner self-inflicted deaths is broader than the legal definition of suicide and includes all deaths where it appears that a prisoner has acted specifically to take their own life. Annual figures may change slightly as inquest verdicts and other information becomes available, although the figures presented here are a fair reflection of the number of self-inflicted deaths among young offenders.
	
		
			   Number of offenders aged 18 to 20 who self-harmed  Number self-inflicted deaths of offenders aged 18 to 20 
			 2001(1) 707 10 
			 2002(1) 694 12 
			 2003 950 11 
			 2004 996 6 
			 2005 1,079 10 
			 2006 1,138 2 
			 (1) Not comparable to later years due to change in reporting system.

Young Offenders

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many supervision orders with conditions were  (a) issued to and  (b) breached by young offenders aged 18 years and under in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many curfew orders were  (a) issued to and  (b) breached by young offenders aged 18 years and under in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many community punishment and rehabilitation orders were  (a) issued to and  (b) breached by young offenders aged 18 years and under in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  how many community punishment orders were  (a) issued to and  (b) breached by young offenders aged 18 years and under in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  how many detention and training orders were  (a) issued to and  (b) breached by offenders aged 18 years and under in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  how many  (a) reparation orders,  (b) action plan orders and  (c) attendance centre orders were (i) issued to and (ii) breached by young offenders aged 18 years or under in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement;
	(7)  how many supervision orders without conditions were  (a) issued to and  (b) breached by young offenders aged 18 or under in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement;
	(8)  how many drug treatment and testing orders were  (a) issued to and  (b) breached by offenders aged 18 years and under in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: For sentencing purposes, juveniles are defined as being aged 17 and under; 18-year-olds are treated as adults. This response therefore is confined to young offenders aged 10 to 17 in the interest of clarity.
	Statistics on sentencing of young offenders (persons aged 10 to 17) are published in "Sentencing Statistics 2005" (Home Office Statistical Bulletin No. 03/07), a copy of which is in the Library.
	Table 2.8 on page 42 includes numbers of detention and training orders made and Table 3.7 on page 70 includes number of drug treatment and testing orders, supervision orders, curfew orders, community punishment and rehabilitation orders, community punishment orders, reparation orders, action plan orders and attendance centre orders made.
	Although care is taken in collating and analysing the returns used to compile the figures in this publication, the data are of necessity subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. Consequently, although figures are shown to the last digit in order to provide a comprehensive record of the information collected, they are not necessarily accurate to the last digit shown.
	The bulletin referred to is also available on the Home Office website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/hosb0307.pdf
	Supervision orders with and without conditions are not published separately due to data quality problems, and in relation to statistics on breaches of all these orders, quality checks have shown that breach data are unsuitable for publication. Statistics on breaches can therefore only be published when significant improvements have been made to the submissions of these data to the Home Office.

Young Offenders: Foreigners

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of prisoners in young offender institutions are foreign nationals, broken down by nationality.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 14 March 2007
	 At the end of January 2007 8 per cent. of all prisoners held in young offender and juvenile institutions were foreign nationals. Information on their nationalities can be found in the following table.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	
		
			  Foreign national prisoners held within young offender and juvenile institutions as at 31 January 2007 
			   Number 
			 All(1) 690 
			 Total other 1 
			 Afghanistan 4 
			 Albania 12 
			 Algeria 5 
			 Angola 5 
			 Australia 1 
			 Bangladesh 16 
			 Bosnia-Herzegovina 2 
			 Botswana 1 
			 Bulgaria 1 
			 Burundi 2 
			 Cameroon, United Republic 2 
			 Canada 1 
			 Central African Republic 1 
			 Chile 1 
			 China 7 
			 Columbia 4 
			 Congo 10 
			 Congo, Democratic Republic 9 
			 Czech Republic 3 
			 Dominican Republic 1 
			 Ecuador 1 
			 Estonia 4 
			 Ethiopia 10 
			 France 9 
			 French Guyana 1 
			 Gambia 3 
			 Georgia 1 
			 Germany 3 
			 Ghana 3 
			 Grenada 1 
			 Guatemala 2 
			 Guinea 2 
			 Guyana 2 
			 Hong Kong 1 
			 India 6 
			 Iran 14 
			 Iraq 19 
			 Irish Republic 39 
			 Italy 2 
			 Ivory Coast 6 
			 Jamaica 85 
			 Jordan 1 
			 Kazakhstan 1 
			 Kenya 4 
			 Kuwait 1 
			 Latvia 3 
			 Lebanon 1 
			 Liberia 2 
			 Libya 1 
			 Lithuania 6 
			 Macedonia 2 
			 Moldova 9 
			 Montserrat 3 
			 Morocco 1 
			 Netherlands 11 
			 Netherlands Antilles 2 
			 New Zealand 1 
			 Niger 1 
			 Nigeria 33 
			 Pakistan 24 
			 Philippines 1 
			 Poland 16 
			 Portugal 16 
			 Qatar 1 
			 Romania 15 
			 Russia 5 
			 Rwanda 5 
			 Saudi Arabia 6 
			 Serbia and Montenegro 13 
			 Sierre Leone 12 
			 Somalia 78 
			 South Africa 14 
			 Spain 1 
			 Sri Lanka 3 
			 St. Lucia 2 
			 Sudan 4 
			 Sweden 2 
			 Syrian Arab Republic 2 
			 Tanzania 2 
			 Thailand 1 
			 Togo 1 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 5 
			 Turkey 10 
			 Uganda 14 
			 United Arab Emirates 1 
			 United States of America 6 
			 Venezuela 1 
			 Vietnam 17 
			 Zambia 1 
			 Zimbabwe 19 
			 (1) Where figures in the table have been rounded to the nearest whole number, the rounded components do not always add up to the totals which are calculated and rounded independently.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Biofuels

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he made of the impact on the wood panel industry of increasing the level of subsidy for co-firing using a wood-based raw material.

Malcolm Wicks: The Government support co-firing through the renewables obligation (RO). Currently, all technologies under the RO receive the same level of support. The Energy Review Report proposed banding the RO so that it provides different levels of support to different technologies. As co-firing is one of the most economic technologies, we have consulted on proposals to decrease the level of support it receives. These proposals would require amendments to the Electricity Act 1989 and will be the subject of an announcement later this year. At present, the level through which suppliers can meet their obligation through co-firing is capped at 10 per cent. having fallen from 25 per cent. in 2006. This cap not only protects the RO certificate market but also restricts the volumes of biomass, including wood, that can be used.
	The Government also commissioned an independent report to look at the current and future impact of co-firing on the wood panel industry (ILEX, September 2005). The report concluded that allowing more waste wood (which is not suitable for use by the wood panel industry) to qualify for support through the RO would ease competition for the industry's preferred feedstock. We accepted these recommendations and have implemented them through changes to the biomass definition in the Renewables Obligation Order 2006 and will make further changes through the Renewables Obligation Order 2006 Amendment Order 2007 from 1 April 2007.

Business: Competition

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with Ofcom on its plans for fostering competition in the market for business and small and medium-sized enterprises communications services as part of its policy objectives for 2007 and 2008.

Margaret Hodge: I meet regularly with representatives of the independent regulator Ofcom (the Office of Communications) to discuss a wide range of issues. SMEs use a number of communication services including voice lines, calls, internet access/broadband and leased lines. In each of these Ofcom is taking various steps to increase the level of competition and choice for businesses including:
	Supporting development of local loop unbundling (LLU) by allowing BT's competitors to install equipment in BT exchanges. Where this occurs, for the first time, consumers have a choice of companies from which to rent telephone lines, as well as a wider choice than before of telecommunications packages.
	Improving wholesale line rental (WLR) product and moving to "equivalence". This means that BT Retail has to purchase WLR from BT Wholesale in exactly the same manner as its competitors, and ensures a more level playing field, particularly in areas where no competitors of BT have decided to install equipment in the BT exchange.
	Reviewing the leased line market (typically used by businesses needing a network to connect offices around the country) to ensure that remedies introduced in 2004 to improve retail competition remain appropriate.
	In addition, I have had several discussions with Ofcom about their ongoing approach to spectrum management, so as to provide a competitive environment for SMEs and others conducive to innovation.

European Union Research and Development Framework Programme

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many British companies have  (a) applied to and  (b) received the European Union Research and Development Framework programme in each of the last three years.

Malcolm Wicks: The European Commission is responsible for providing member states with data on the implementation of the Framework programme. The Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) covered the years 2003 to 2007. The data provided by the European Commission on total applications for funding are by member state total and not broken down by organisation type.
	The data provided by the European Commission show that, in 2004, there were 9,105 UK applicants; 2,341 applicants received funding in this year, of which 429 were classified as industry participants.
	In 2005 11,711 UK participants applied for funding from FP6; 2,328 applicants received funding in this year, of which 432 were classified as industry participants.
	The European Commission data for 2006 cover the entire year for total applicants, but only cover projects signed up to July 2006 for specific organisation type. 4,036 UK participants applied for funding; with 2,049 applicants receiving funding; 70 of these were classified as industry participants.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what assessment was made by his Department of the future commercial viability of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority prior to his agreement to provide further public money to support its continuing operation;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the commercial revenues generated by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will be sufficient to fulfil the Authority's needs.

Malcolm Wicks: The Government are committed to funding the costs of the decommissioning and clean-up of the historic civil public nuclear liabilities arising at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's (NDA) sites. The Consolidated Fund is the mechanism for funding this, with a mixture of grant in aid and commercial income. Over time the contribution from income will fall off, as productive units are progressively taken out of service. The NDA's commercial income is taken fully into account in setting its budget. We have agreed a budget for 2007-08 that will ensure that the NDA delivers a small increase in programme funding and which will ensure the NDA can meet its core objectives and maintain safety. We are now discussing longer term funding for the NDA in the context of the Spending Round.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total cost to date has been of the creation and operation of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department was advised by consultants, by means of a contract for services, on matters relating to arrangements for setting up the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). Services under the contract included providing strategic management and direct technical and commercial functions to both the Department and the 'shadow' NDA. The contract was signed on 12 August 2002 and was novated to the NDA on 25 May 2005. The final cost was £23.16 million. The NDA's operational costs as given in their management accounts are as follows:
	
		
			   Audited actual 2004-05  Audited actual 2005-06  Period 10 forecast 2006-07 (unaudited) 
			 NDA Total Spend 9 2,420 2,683 
			 NDA HQ Spend 9 36 50 
			 Efficiency savings 0 124 140 
			  Notes: 1. Expenditure in 2004-05 represents the 'shadow' NDA. Figures for 2005-06 and 2006-07 show the NDA established with its full staff complement. 2. Expenditure is stated on a near-cash basis and includes capital expenditure but excludes non-cash items such as depreciation and movement in provisions.

Post Offices

Robert Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when his Department expects to report on the findings of the Post Office Network consultation.

Jim Fitzpatrick: We are currently reviewing the responses and hope to be able to announce our conclusions and final decisions in May.

Public Bodies

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much funding his Department gave to the  (a) UK Atomic Energy Authority,  (b) Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and  (c) Civil Nuclear Police Authority in each of the last five years; and how much has been provided to each body in 2006-07.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 4 December 2006
	The DTI's departmental report shows payments to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) for the funding of decommissioning, as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2002-03 277.411 
			 2003-04 260.505 
			 2004-05 288.500 
		
	
	In addition the DTI's departmental report shows other grant in aid payments to UKAEA, as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2002-03 0 
			 2003-04 17.5 
			 2004-05 28.6 
		
	
	The Energy Act 2004 produced a reorganisation of the Government's nuclear decommissioning. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and the Civil Nuclear Police Authority (CNPA) were established with effect from 1 April 2005. The NDA acquired the responsibility for the nuclear liabilities which were previously the responsibility of UKAEA and the CNPA took over the responsibility for nuclear policing. These changes were reflected in a change to the funding arrangements provided by the DTI in 2005-06. The NDA received the major part of the decommissioning funding and the CNPA received minor sums. The funding to UKAEA was reduced accordingly.
	The DTI's 2007 departmental report will disclose the following funding for 2005-06 and budgeted funding for 2006-07.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   2005-06  2006-07( 1) 
			 NDA (less NDA income) l,051 1,508 
			 UKAEA 9.7 12.6 
			 CNPA 6 3 
			 (1) Spring Supplementary Estimate.

Renewable Obligations

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the number of householders who have received renewable obligations certificates (ROCs) in the last year; and what the average value was of the ROCs received.

Malcolm Wicks: Ofgem administer the issuing of ROCs to renewable generators. They do not keep data on the number of generators who are households; however 57 of the 975 accredited generators were small generators below 50KW, and accredited to individuals rather than businesses. These 57 small generators claimed 952 ROCs in the 2005-06 period.
	We do not keep data on average ROC prices for generators; however the nominal value of a ROC to suppliers for 2005-06 was £42.54.
	Changes we have introduced in the Renewables Obligation Order 2006 (Amendment) Order 2007—currently before Parliament—will remove the requirement for sale and buyback agreements and allow agents to act for small generators, including householders. It is expected these changes will make it easier for householders to claim ROCs. Ofgem are expecting a consequent rise in the number of applications from small generators.

Research: Capital Investment

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the net balance of research and development investment is in  (a) each UK region,  (b) the United Kingdom and  (c) the European Union.

Malcolm Wicks: Information on the net balance of research and development investments is not available.
	The OECD has for many years provided the most reliable and consistent international analyses of R&D expenditures, under the guidance of the Frascati Manual which sets out how to describe and measure R&D activities. In line with the Frascati Manual, the UK national statistics on R&D are at gross level.
	The following table shows the latest available R&D statistics at regional level. Private non-for-profit expenditure on R&D (PNPERD) is not available at regional level. In 2004, PNPERD accounted for 3 per cent. of the UK gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD).
	
		
			  Estimated regional breakdown of expenditure on Intramural R&D in the business, government and higher education sectors, 2003 
			  £ million 
			   R&D performed within business (BERD)  R&D performed within government establishments (GOVERD)( 1)  R&D performed within higher education institutions (HERD) 
			 UK 12,677 2,031 4,454 
			 North East 152 2 158 
			 North West 1,545 54 363 
			 Yorkshire 345 135 347 
			 East Midlands 868 23 223 
			 West Midlands 809 38 228 
			 Eastern England 2,936 339 411 
			 London 709 281 1,069 
			 South East 3,252 590 613 
			 South West 1,229 234 192 
			 
			 England 11,845 1,696 3,604 
			 Wales 207 44 175 
			 Scotland 508 274 575 
			 Northern Ireland 116 17 100 
			 (1) Figures include estimates for those areas of central Government not available from the Government survey and local authorities.   Note :  1. Information on GERD at the UK level for 2005 was released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) on 23 March. GERD amounted to £21,764 million in 2005.  2. For international comparisons, because of movements in exchange rates, it is more meaningful to express R&D as a percentage of GDP. The latest figures for 2005 were 1.8 per cent. both for the EU25 (OECD data) and 1.8 per cent. for the UK (ONS).   Source:  ONS.

Royal Mail

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether any proposals are under consideration for further consolidation in the Royal Mail sorting office sector.

Jim Fitzpatrick: This is an operational matter for which Royal Mail has direct responsibility. I have therefore asked the chief executive of Royal Mail, Adam Crozier, to provide a direct reply to my hon. Friend.

HEALTH

Cancer: Irish Community

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to reduce the  (a) incidence of and  (b) mortality from cancers in the Irish community in England.

Rosie Winterton: We do not have any programmes to reduce cancer incidence or mortality specifically targeted at the Irish community in England.
	However, as a result of the White Paper "Your health, your care, your say", there are a number of programmes and initiatives underway to encourage people to improve their health and to improve their health knowledge. These programs and initiatives should help reduce incidence, by helping people to lead healthier lives and make healthier life choices.
	An important part of reducing mortality from cancer is early detection and we are working with the healthy communities collaborative, part of the improvement foundation, to test locally developed approaches to raising awareness of cancer symptoms in local communities, including black and minority ethnic communities. We would hope that if a person developed symptoms that may be cancer, that they would recognise the symptoms as abnormal and seek medical advice.
	The NHS Cancer Plan sets out our strategy for improving cancer services for all patients and we have seen significant improvements in the management and provision of cancer services for all cancer patients, regardless of their ethnicity. The plan noted the need to provide patients with culturally sensitive information.
	As announced in November 2006, by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health, the Cancer Reform Strategy will build on the success of the NHS Cancer Plan and will look at ways that we can improve awareness of cancer, the early detection of cancer and patient experience.
	Developing policy which benefits all sectors of the community is central to the role of the Department, and we have a strong commitment to promoting race equality.

Community Hospitals: Cumbria

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has made to Cumbria Primary Care Trust prior to its announcement that no community hospitals within Cumbria will close.

Rosie Winterton: There have been no such representations.

Dental Health: Children

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent by her Department in the last five years on providing information to parents on preventing tooth decay in children.

Rosie Winterton: Oral health promotion can take the form of educational and awareness campaigns aimed at population groups, or personal information and advice given by dentists, hygienists or other members of primary and community dental teams in the course of examining or treating individual patients.
	Information on local national health service oral health promotion campaigns is not collected centrally although over the period 2003 to 2006 the Department contributed £1.1 million to pilot the Brushing for Life scheme intended to get families with young children into the habit of brushing their teeth regularly with fluoride toothpaste.
	It is also not possible to quantify what proportion of the activity supported by the £2.2 billion gross budget in 2005-06 for NHS primary dental care services contributed to raising awareness of oral hygiene and the prevention of dental disease. One of the Government's objectives in introducing from April 2006 local commissioning arrangements for primary dental care services and changing the basis of remuneration for dental practices away from item of service fees was to give dentists more scope to focus on preventative care. Primary care trusts are also now required to provide oral health promotion programmes to the extent that they consider it necessary to meet all reasonable requirements within their areas. To assist them, we published an oral health plan for England "Choosing Better Oral Health" in November 2005.

Dental Services

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment she has made on the level of access to NHS dentistry in  (a) Portsmouth,  (b) Hampshire and  (c) England; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Information Centre for health and social care publishes quarterly data on the number of patients receiving care or treatment from national health service dental services in the previous 24 months.
	Information is held at primary care trust (PCT), strategic health authority (SHA) and England level. The data for the 24-month periods ending March, June and September 2006 for England and the then existing PCTs within the geographical areas of Portsmouth and Hampshire are provided in the following table. Information could be provided in the exact form requested for Portsmouth and Hampshire only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Number of patients seen in the two years ending 31 March, 30 June and 30 September 2006 (including orthodontic patients) in England and the specified PCTs 
			   31 March 2006  30 June 2006  30 September 2006 
			   Number  Per 1,000 population  Number  Per 1,000 population  Number  Per 1,000 population 
			 England 28,144,599 558 28,068,025 557 28,083,591 557 
			 of which:   
			 Blackwater Valley and Hart PCT 93,228 531 95,301 543 96,562 550 
			 East Hampshire PCT 50,622 297 51,564 303 52,645 309 
			 Eastleigh and Test Valley South PCT 85,706 530 83,871 519 81,626 505 
			 Fareham and Gosport PCT 71,671 386 72,766 392 73,181 394 
			 North Hampshire PCT 99,513 471 98,654 467 97,810 463 
			 Portsmouth City Teaching PCT 114,710 609 111,086 589 106,777 566 
			  Notes: 1. PCT boundaries are as at 30 September 2006. The Information Centre will publish information on patients seen in the 24 month periods ending 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December 2006 by the new PCT boundaries (PCT boundaries as at 1 October 2006) on 23 March 2007. 2. Portsmouth City Teaching PCT remains a PCT after 1 October 2006. The other PCTs listed are those that now form Hampshire PCT as a result of the 1 October 2006 PCT boundary changes. 3. Patients have been identified by using surname, first initial, gender and date of birth. Each unique patient ID is normally assigned to the dental contract (and therefore PCT) against which the most recent claim for routine treatment was recorded in the 24 month period. 4. The information shows number of patients seen by dentists and the location in which these patients were seen. It does not show the patients home address. Most patients live within the PCT area in which they receive primary care dental services but some will attend a dentist further afield (near work for example). 5. The count of patient IDs is a robust statistical indicator of the overall level of patient involvement with NHS primary dental care. As with the previous registration system there will be some duplications and omissions. Patients will be omitted if two or more share the same surname, initial, sex and date of birth. Patients may be counted twice if they have two or more episodes of care and their name is misspelled or changed (for example on marriage) between those episodes of care. The risk of duplication increases if the episodes of care are at different practices. 6. None of the above factors is likely to affect the overall count by more than one or two percent. but at a PCT level there may be local demographic factors which make the local total more susceptible, e.g. a high proportion of women changing names after marriage, a local concentration of surnames prone to be misspelled, and or a transient patient base.  Sources: The Information Centre for health and social care NHS Business Services Authority (BSA)

Dental Services: Manpower

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she plans to take to review dental manpower in England; and what mechanisms she plans to put in place to satisfy dental manpower needs over the next five years.

Rosie Winterton: "The Report of the Primary Care Dental Workforce Review" published in 2004 identified a shortage of dentists to which the Department responded with two major initiatives. Through the Project 1000 campaign, the Department supported the national health service in recruiting the equivalent of 1,453 additional whole time dentists including some 500 overseas dentists. For the longer term, the Department increased the number of undergraduate training places in English dental schools by 170, a 25 per cent. increase in capacity. The first cohort of students to take these additional places will graduate in 2009 by when there will have been three years experience of the devolution of the commissioning of primary care dentistry to primary care trusts (PCTs). As part of these new arrangements, PCTs are responsible for assessing local needs and commissioning services to reflect these needs. The Department will work with the NHS to allow local need assessments and commissioning plans to feed into long term work force planning at national level.

Dentistry

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what forecasts were made for revenue from patient charges for NHS dental treatment in 2006-07; and what her most recent forecast is.

Rosie Winterton: A table listing the primary dental service resource allocations for 2006-07 for all primary care trusts (PCTs) in England as at 31 July 2006 is available in the Library. This set out the net allocations awarded to PCTs and the assumed gross budgets based on illustrative assumptions about levels of patient charge income for each PCT. Strategic health authorities agreed with their PCTs locally how these allocations would be redistributed within the new PCT areas that took effect from 1 October 2006.
	It is for PCTs to monitor and manage patient charge revenue locally in the context of managing their overall net financial commitments. The Department is not in a position to make a reliable estimate of patient charge revenue at national level ahead of receiving final outturn data for the full financial year. The Information Centre for health and social care will be publishing information on income from dental patient charges in due course.

Dentistry: Training

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental schools provide training for dentists in England; and how many places were offered by each dental school in each year since 1990.

Rosie Winterton: Information on the number of home and European Union students admitted to dental schools in England is available from 1993 onwards and is set out in the following tables.
	
		
			  Home/EU domicile, year 1 
			  Students admitted 
			  Dental school  1993-94  1994-95  1995-96  1996-97  1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000 
			 University of Birmingham 69 73 74 69 68 71 70 
			 University of Bristol 65 64 44 57 55 50 52 
			 King's College London 157 156 154 149 167 142 130 
			 University of Leeds 52 54 52 53 52 51 55 
			 University of Liverpool 50 54 48 55 51 49 49 
			 Queen Mary and Westfield College 57 59 53 53 52 54 57 
			 University of Manchester 59 74 65 114 55 60 71 
			 University of Newcastle upon Tyne 70 70 83 81 79 78 63 
			 University of Sheffield 51 60 54 54 52, 48 53 
			 Total England 630 664 627 685 631 603 600 
		
	
	
		
			  Students admitted 
			  Dental school  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 University of Birmingham 69 72 75 75 81 90 
			 University of Bristol 50 51 55 54 53 84 
			 King's College London 144 140 162 138 142 168 
			 University of Leeds 50 54 61 55 52 85 
			 University of Liverpool 45 49 52 63 60 90 
			 Queen Mary and Westfield College 63 61 55 73 58 90 
			 University of Manchester 74 73 71 77 79 59 
			 University of Newcastle upon Tyne 72 68 70 69 80 98 
			 University of Sheffield 56 58 64 68 69 84 
			 Total England 623 626 665 672 674 848

Diabetes: Screening

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what restrictions there are upon the  (a) availability,  (b) type and  (c) numbers of home blood testing strips for people diagnosed with diabetes.

Rosie Winterton: Testing strips for blood glucose monitoring available on national health service prescription are restricted to those listed at Part IXR of the Drug Tariff. However, as with any medicine or appliance, which type is best for the patient and how many are prescribed are matters for discussion between the patient and their healthcare professional.

Food: Labelling

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she plans to discuss with manufacturers of confectionery and fizzy drinks the potential for warnings on packaging informing the consumer of the risks of tooth decay.

Rosie Winterton: We have no specific plans for the labelling of these foods, but improving diet and reducing sugar intake is one of the main themes of our oral health promotion programme. "Choosing Better Oral Health", the oral health plan for England, which we issued in November 2005, included advice to reduce both the frequency and the amount of added sugars consumed in line with the Department's target of reducing average intake of added sugar to 11 per cent. of food energy.

Health Services: Neurology

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment she has made of access to  (a) physiotherapy,  (b) respiratory support,  (c) orthotics and  (d) other NHS services for people with neuromuscular conditions; what recent changes there have been to those services; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: We have no made no recent assessment of NHS services for people with neuromuscular conditions.
	The recently published "National Service Framework for Long-term Conditions" and the "Musculoskeletal Framework" have been designed to transform the provision of health and social services for those living with long-term neurological and musculoskeletal conditions.

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in Westminster Primary Care Trust waited for  (a) 18 months and over,  (b) 12 months and over and  (c) six months and over for in-patient admission in each of the last four years.

Andy Burnham: The following table shows in-patient admissions for the last four-year period in the Westminster primary care trust (PCT) area.
	
		
			  Time Waited  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 More than 6 months to 12 months 948 1,089 967 901 
			 More than 12 months to 18 months 216 127 87 76 
			 More than 18 months 16 22 18 26 
			 Number of elective waiting list and booked admissions where it is not possible to calculate accurate waiting times 1,875 1,683 1,926 2,594 
			  Notes:  1. Finished in-year admissions: A finished in-year admission is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider, excluding admissions before 1 April at the start of the data year. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients as a person may have more than one admission within the year.  2. Ungrossed data: Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in the data (i.e. the data are ungrossed). 3. Time waited (days): Time waited statistics from HES are not the same as the publicised waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment on a specific date and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the time waited as the difference between admission and the decision to admit dates. Where there is no recorded entry for decision to admit, or when decision to admit and admission date are the same this creates an invalid waiting time. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-referrals or periods of medical/social suspension. The time bands "more than 6 months to 12 months" includes those who waited 183 to 364 days, the "more than 12 months to 18 months" includes those who waited 365 to 547 days, the "more than 18 months" includes those who waited 548 and more days.  4. Data quality: HES are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts and PCTs in England. The Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.   Source:  Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for health and social care.

Influenza

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many doses of which antivirals have been contributed by the UK to the WHO stockpile maintained in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak.

Rosie Winterton: The United Kingdom has not contributed antivirals to the World Health Organisation (WHO) stockpile, but has donated £500,000 to the WHO to assist its rapid response activities and to improve epidemiological surveillance in south-east Asia for pandemic influenza. This corrects the information given in the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Lynne Jones), regarding the WHO's stockpile, on 1 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1552W.

Mental Health Services

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what funding the Department of Health provided to  (a) the mental health charity Combat Stress and  (b) Hollybush House in each year between 2001 and 2006;
	(2)  what funding her Department plans to allocate to the mental health charity Combat Stress in each of the next five years.

Rosie Winterton: The Department in England has not provided funding to Combat Stress or any of its treatment centres in the last five years and currently has no plans to do so.
	The Ministry of Defence meets individual costs relating to war pensioners who undergo remedial treatment at one of the two Combat Stress homes in England for conditions related to their individual war pensioned disablement. For details of Ministry of Defence expenditure since 2001 in respect of individual remedial treatment of qualifying war pensioners at Combat Stress Homes in England, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for Halton (Derek Twigg), on 12 December 2006,  Official Report, column 933W. The Ministry of Defence also made a grant of £100,000 towards the costs of modernising accommodation at Hollybush House. Separate funding is provided from the Scottish Health Board for treatment of war pensioners at Hollybush House and towards its modernisation.

Mental Health Services: Children

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how long  (a) children and  (b) looked-after children waited to gain access to mental health services on average in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: Information is not collected in the format requested. The most recent information available is from the 2005 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) mapping exercise. In November 2005, there were 26,207 children and young people waiting to be seen by specialist CAMHS in England, a reduction of 2,674 from the previous year.
	In November 2005 52 per cent. of new cases were seen by specialist CAMHS within four weeks, an additional 33 per cent. within 13 weeks, and a further 10 per cent. within 26 weeks. 5 per cent. of children and young people waited over 26 weeks to be seen by specialist CAMHS. In 2002 only 24 per cent. of new cases were seen within four weeks and just over 50 per cent. were seen with 13 weeks.

NHS Treatment Centres: Private Sector

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many procedures have been performed by each independent sector treatment centre since October 2003.

Andy Burnham: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Wave 1 independent sector treatment centre (ISTC) schemes 
			  Facilities  Procedures at end of January 2007 
			 Ophthalmic chain, mobile units 24,932 
			 Bodmin national health service treatment centre 2,775 
			 Boston NHS treatment centre 1,899 
			 Gainsborough NHS treatment centre 1,554 
			 Clifton Park NHS treatment centre 1,817 
			 Capio New Hall NHS treatment centre 2,556 
			 Cobalt NHS treatment centre 3,222 
			 Blakelands NHS treatment centre(1) 2,829 
			 Horton NHS treatment centre(1) 253 
			 Capio Reading NHS treatment centre(1) 262 
			 Kidderminster NHS treatment centre 3,076 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside NHS treatment centre 1,810 
			 Mid Kent NHS treatment centre 1,300 
			 North East London NHS treatment centre 79 
			 Sussex Orthopaedics NHS treatment centre 1,478 
			 Will Adams NHS treatment centre 1,977 
			 St. Mary's NHS treatment centre 3,106 
			 Eccleshill NHS treatment centre 8,448 
			 Midlands NHS treatment centre 2,579 
			 Barlborough NHS treatment centre 6,875 
			 Birkdale clinic 5,157 
			 Shepton Mallet NHS treatment centre 14,012 
			 Greater Manchester surgical centre 10,642 
			 Peninsula NHS treatment centre 5,320 
			 (1) Figures are subject to final reconciliation with the provider.  Note: Figures are for operational wave 1 ISTCs and exclude centrally procured contracts such as Gsupp, MRI, CWiCs etc. and any diagnostic services delivered.

NHS: Finance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the impact of payment by results on the financial position of hospital trusts  (a) in England and  (b) in North Yorkshire; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The financial position of national health service trusts is subject to continual monitoring. The impact of the implementation of payment by results is the focus of an independent evaluation project being undertaken by the University of Aberdeen, supported by the University of Dundee and the Office of Health Economics in London.

NHS: India

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to outsource a proportion of the NHS's accounting and finance jobs to India; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: There are no plans to outsource a set proportion of the national health service's accounting and finance jobs to India. NHS shared Business Services Ltd. (SBS) is a 50:50 joint venture with Xansa, a listed plc, which offers a range of finance and accounting services to the NHS on a commercial basis.
	It is for each trust to decide if it wants to contract for these services, a decision which will be based on price, quality and service. Given that the United Kingdom business is based in Wakefield, a decision to contract with NHS SBS results in staff being displaced locally.
	NHS SBS, on receiving the contracted work, without the staff necessary to undertake the work, must make decisions as to whether to allocate that work to UK based staff or sub-contract it to India.

North Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust

Elliot Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget was of North Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust in each of the last five years.

Andy Burnham: The allocations made to the North Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust are shown in the following table:
	
		
			   £ million  Increase in real term s (Percentage)  Increase in cash terms  (Percentage) 
			 2003-04 135.1 6.0 8.4 
			 2004-05 147.5 6.5 9.1 
			 2005-06 160.5 6.2 8.9 
			 2006-07 190.4 6.3 9.1 
			 2007-08 209.0 6.8 9.7

Nurses: Cumbria

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacancies for nurses there are in the NHS in Cumbria.

Rosie Winterton: The latest data collected were for March 2006 through the national health service vacancy survey. This collects vacancies that the trusts have actively been trying to fill for the last three months.
	For Carlisle and District primary care trust (PCT), Eden Valley PCT and West Cumbria PCT there were no vacancies for nurses recorded in the March 2006 vacancy survey.

Palliative Care

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by her Department on palliative care services in each of the last five years for which figures are available, broken down by health authority.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not collected centrally.
	Primary care trusts are responsible within the national health service for commissioning and funding services for their resident population, including palliative care.

Prostate Cancer

David Clelland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average number was of people on waiting lists for  (a) radiotherapy,  (b) chemotherapy and  (c) other treatments for prostate cancer in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the average waiting time was in the same period.

Rosie Winterton: Statistics on average waiting times for cancer patients and average waiting times for different types of cancer treatment are not collected centrally. Cancer waiting times' standards of a maximum wait of 31 days from diagnosis to first cancer treatment, and a maximum wait of 62 days from urgent referral for suspected cancer to first cancer treatment were introduced for all cancer patients from December 2005. In the last quarter (October to December 2006) performance against these standards was 99.6 per cent. and 96.3 per cent. respectively.

Prostate Cancer: Ethnic Groups

David Clelland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to ensure that men with prostate cancer receive equal treatment regardless of ethnic background.

Rosie Winterton: Developing policy which benefits all sectors of the community is absolutely central to the role of the Department, and we have a strong commitment to promoting race equality. The Department welcomed the Prostate Cancer Charter for Action's report, "Tackling Prostate Cancer in Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Groups", published in September 2006. We know that men of African origin are more at risk of developing prostate cancer, and the Department funded two of the key studies featured in the report, the successful African Caribbean Awareness Project and the Prostate Cancer in Ethnic Subgroups research study.
	Good progress has been made in considering the recommendations of the report. The recommendations were included for consideration in the cancer equality action plan, which fed into the Department action plan to support the publication of the single equality scheme on 4 December 2006.
	With specific reference to treatment, the cancer action team (CAT) have appointed to the post of Associate Director: Patient Experience. This post is being funded by the National Audit Office, and the postholder begins work on 1 April 2007. Responsibilities will cover equality issues for cancer, including prostate cancer, as follows:
	"provide leadership on BME issues within the CAT;
	promote the establishment of a forum of the key stakeholders working with BME communities and work with them to facilitate the sharing of good practice; and
	work with key stakeholders and selected cancer networks to develop best practice guidance for cancer networks (including needs of local population, awareness raising, information and support for patients, end of life care and promoting the implementation of guidance)."

Thyroid Gland: Fluoride

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research she has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the relationship between fluoridisation and thyroid disorders.

Rosie Winterton: The Department has commissioned and funded two research studies on fluoridation and health. "A Systematic Review of Public Water Fluoridation" published by the University of York in 2000 identified two studies, which found no significant association between thyroid disorders and water fluoridation, and one study with a positive association. However, the positive study looked at combined fluoride/iodine intakes and has not been published in a peer review journal.
	"Water Fluoridation and Health" published by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in 2002 endorsed York's recommendation on the need for further research into fluoridation, but accorded low priority to further research on thyroid disorders. This was because the MRC judged the scientific plausibility of an association between water fluoridation and thyroid disease to be low.
	We are committed to a continuing programme of research on the effects of fluoridation on health.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust: Ophthalmology

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) occupied consultant posts and  (b) locums there are in the opthalmology units of the (i) Alexandra and Princess of Wales, (ii) Worcester Royal and (iii) Kidderminster hospitals; and what population is served by each.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not available in the format requested.
	The Department collects data on the number of consultants and locums working in the ophthalmology speciality, but these are at national health service trust level rather than by individual hospital. Data on the number of consultants and locums working in ophthalmology in Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Alexandra, Worcester Royal and Kidderminster hospitals as at 30 September 2005, are shown in the table. The same data source show that Worcester primary care trust (PCT), which runs the Princess of Wales community hospital, did not have any ophthalmology staff working for them in the same time period.
	
		
			   Number 
			 All staff 18 
			 Of which consultants 7 
			 Of which locums 0 
			  Note:  Locum data are not collected to the same level of detail and validation as the main workforce census. Locum figures are therefore rounded to the nearest 10 due to data quality. Locum data exclude staff who already hold a substansive contract.   Source:  The Information Centre for health and social care medical and dental workforce census. 
		
	
	The Department holds data on population numbers, but this is at PCT-level rather than by individual hospital. The general practitioner (GP) population data collected in April 2005 for GP relevant populations as at April 2004, showed Worcester PCT as serving a population of 542,261. Please note that these data have been constrained to the Office for National Statistics 2004 mid-year population estimates, based on the 2001 Census, but do not include armed forces and some prisoners.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Absent Voting

Oliver Heald: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what representations the Electoral Commission has received from Equifax on the reliability of signature scans to verify postal votes.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has received no such representations.

Absent Voting

Oliver Heald: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission if he will place in the Library copies of the correspondence between the Electoral Commission and the Department of Constitutional Affairs on remote electronic voting pilots in the 2007 local elections.

Peter Viggers: This is a matter for the parties concerned. However, I am informed by the Electoral Commission that copies have been placed in the Library, along with a note setting out the context of the correspondence. The Electoral Commission's letter of 1 December 2006 to the Department for Constitutional Affairs commenting on the pilot scheme applications for the May 2007 elections is also available on its website at:
	http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/elections/pilotsmay2007.cfm.

Elections: Administration

Oliver Heald: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) of 26 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1015W, on elections, if he will place in the Library a copy of the new guidance manual and polling station handbook.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that copies of these documents have been placed in the Library.

Elections: Fraud

Oliver Heald: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what the timetable is for the Electoral Commission to complete its analysis of the Crown Prosecution Service records of cases of alleged offences under electoral legislation; and whether its analysis is planned to be placed in the public domain.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that it will be publishing on its website later this week an initial analysis of the relevant Crown Prosecution Service files. It will also place a copy in the Library. The Commission intends to continue this work, and will report further in due course.

Electoral Commission: Advertising

Oliver Heald: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission how much the Electoral Commission spent on  (a) sponsoring newspaper or publication supplements and  (b) funding advertorials in newspapers or publications in the last year for which figures are available; and what the topic of each was.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that it spent £4,800 in 2005-06 on funding advertorials in eight regional newspapers in Northern Ireland to provide registration and voter information prior to the 2005 general election. It also spent £1,736 on sponsoring a student magazine in Northern Ireland, with the specific aim of conveying the same information to young people, an under-registered section of society.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Absent Voting

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps local authorities have taken to protect the personal identifiers collected from postal voters from being  (a) sold to third party companies and  (b) used by (i) credit reference agencies and (ii) other non-governmental bodies.

Bridget Prentice: Personal identifiers for postal voters are personal data held by an Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) not a local authority. Under the Electoral Administration Act 2006, they may only be disclosed to: other EROs to help them carry out their duties; returning officers at an election; persons involved in the preparation or conduct of legal proceedings under the Representation of the People Act 1983, such as the police or an election petition court.
	Also, at the checking of postal votes at an election, candidates and their agents may see the personal identifiers relating to any postal votes that the returning officer is minded to reject, and they may also be disclosed to election observers, but only to the extent required to permit them to observe the proceedings.
	There is no provision in legislation for personal identifiers collected from postal voters to be sold to third party companies or to be used by other non-governmental bodies such as credit reference agencies.

Absent Voting

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps her Department takes to prevent coercion and intimidation being used in postal voting.

Bridget Prentice: We have inserted new secrecy warnings on postal voting papers to deter any unlawful attempts to influence another person's vote.
	The Electoral Administration Act 2006 strengthens the existing offence of undue influence to cover both successful and unsuccessful attempts at exerting undue influence on another voter. This should make it easier to secure conviction where there is evidence of intimidation.
	More generally, the Government have fully supported the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the Electoral Commission in the development of guidance for police officers to raise awareness of electoral fraud issues. ACPO and the Electoral Commission have issued jointly updated guidance on fraud prevention and detection at the May 2007 elections. The guidance sets out the main electoral offences—including the offence of undue influence—and suggests appropriate police action in response to any allegations of fraud or impropriety that are made.

Absent Voting

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will take steps to ensure that the procedures in place to verify the personal identity of those people who vote by post are consistent with those in place to verify the identity of those who vote in person.

Bridget Prentice: Under provisions in the Electoral Administration Act 2006, as approved by Parliament, a greater level of security has been put in place for postal voting than for voters in polling stations, in order to address particular concerns about the security of postal voting.

Absent Voting

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether her Department intends to extend to other parts of the UK the system in place in Northern Ireland which uses national insurance numbers as a means of ensuring greater checks upon the validity of  (a) voting in person and  (b) voting by post.

Bridget Prentice: The national insurance database is primarily used, by the Elections Office for Northern Ireland, to verify the identity of a person registering to vote. It is not used to verify the identity of persons voting in person, although it is also used to verify postal vote applicants.
	The Government are currently monitoring the arrangements in Northern Ireland. However, we presently have no plans to verify the identity of registrants, postal voters or persons voting in person against the national insurance database.

Absent Voting

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what mechanisms are in place to prevent the fraudulent filling in of a postal ballot obtained with false identification.

Bridget Prentice: Applicants for a postal vote must be included on the electoral register. The Electoral Administration Act 2006 imposes a duty on the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) to ensure electoral registers are accurate and comprehensive. It also strengthens the objections procedures, and enables EROs to act upon any objections made to a person's entry on the register, and to initiate an investigation into a person's entry on the register if the ERO is in doubt about whether the person is entitled to be registered.
	The Act creates the new offence of falsely applying for a postal vote.
	The Act also establishes a scheme that provides for the use of personal identifiers by postal voters. They require persons voting by post to provide their signature and date of birth, both when they apply for a postal vote and when they return their postal vote at an election. Checks will be done to ensure the personal identifiers match.
	If an ERO is in doubt about the validity of a postal vote application he may make further inquiries with the applicant, and if necessary, he may report the matter to the police. Signatures and dates of birth will be stored by the ERO, and will be important evidence in the event of any investigation into suspected fraudulent applications.

Absent Voting

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the costs of countering fraud in postal voting across the UK during the next  (a) national and  (b) local elections;
	(2)  what the estimated costs are of countering fraud across the UK during the next  (a) national and  (b) local elections.

Bridget Prentice: The Government have provided £21.1 million to cover the new measures introduced within the Electoral Administration Act 2006, and Representation of the People Regulations 2006, including new anti-fraud measures. In addition, we have committed up to £12.2 million, spread over 2006-07 and 2007-08, to provide to local authorities in England and Wales to cover the specific costs of implementing the absent voter personal identifiers provisions in the Electoral Administration Act 2006.
	The precise amount of ongoing funding provided by local authorities to electoral services is not known at present. However, under the Electoral Administration Act 2006, the Electoral Commission will be able to obtain financial information from electoral administrators which will enable accurate data on electoral spending to be made available.
	Funding for the running of the next General Election will be agreed at the appropriate time. That funding will include money for postal voting arrangements.

Courts: Drugs

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will extend the pilot scheme for drugs courts.

Harriet Harman: I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer of 22 January 2007,  Office Report, column 1495W. Dedicated drug courts are being piloted by the Department for Constitutional Affairs at Leeds and West London magistrates courts and an independent evaluation of the pilots will be complete by summer 2007. This will determine if this drug court model delivers benefits and will inform the potential for extended operation.

Courts: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many incidents of violence were recorded on the Northern Ireland courts estate in each of the past three years for which figures are available, broken down by location; and what steps she is taking to reduce such incidents.

Bridget Prentice: The following table sets out recorded incidents of violence on the Northern Ireland courts estate in the last three years.
	
		
			   2004  2005  2006 
			 Belfast combined courts 3 2 1 
			 Craigavon 1 — — 
			 Lisburn — 1 — 
			 Coleraine — — 1 
			 Strabane — — 1 
			 Newtownards — — 1 
			 Total 4 3 4 
		
	
	Court security is provided by a private contractor. Sufficient numbers of security personnel and a range of security measures are deployed to deter incidents of violence, including archway and hand-held scanners at entrances and segregation of opposing parties. If required, additional security is provided by the Police Service of Northern Ireland who also respond to reported incidents.

Courts: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many security officers were employed in each location on the Northern Ireland court estate in each of the last three years for which figures are available, broken down by grade.

Bridget Prentice: The following table details how many security officers were employed in each location on the Northern Ireland courts estate in the last three years.
	
		
			  Full-time equivalent 
			   Staff at March: 
			   2005  2006  2007 
			  Grade  Supervisor  Guard  Supervisor  Guard  Supervisor  Guard 
			 Antrim 1 15 1 13.5 1 13.5 
			 Armagh 1 5.5 1 5.5 1 5.5 
			 Ballymena 1 11.5 1 10.5 1 10.5 
			 Bangor 0 2 0 2 0 2 
			 Banbridge 0 3 0 3 0 0 
			 Royal Courts of Justice 2 27 2 26 2 26 
			 Old Townhall 1 12 1 11.5 1 11.5 
			 Laganside Courts 1 37 1 37 1 37 
			 Headline Building 0 3 0 3 0 3 
			 Coleraine 1 7.5 1 7.5 1 7.5 
			 Craigavon 1 12.5 1 12 1 12 
			 Downpatrick 1 11.5 1 11 1 11 
			 Dungannon 1 12 1 12 1 12 
			 Enniskillen 1 5 1 5 1 5 
			 Larne 0 1 0 1 0 1 
			 Limavady 0 1 0 1 0 1 
			 Lisburn 1 5 1 5 1 5 
			 Londonderry 1 15.5 1 15.5 1 15.5 
			 Magherafelt 0 1 0 1 0 1 
			 Mays Chambers 0 0 0 0 0 3 
			 Newry 1 14 1 13 1 14 
			 Newtownards 1 6.5 1 6.5 1 6.5 
			 Omagh 1 11 1 11 1 11 
			 Strabane 1 3.5 1 3.5 1 3.5 
			 Total 241 235 236

Elections: Petitions

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many complaints have been made to the police about election petitions in the last five years.

Bridget Prentice: This information is not held centrally.

Electoral Commission: Powers

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether her Department plans to strengthen the Electoral Commission's powers to take investigative and enforcement action.

Bridget Prentice: The Government are considering the recent review of the Electoral Commission by the Committee on Standards in Public Life and also the recommendations of the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee and Sir Hayden Phillips that relate to the regulatory role of the Electoral Commission.
	The Government will provide a considered response in due course.

Electoral Register

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  whether her Department plans to ensure that a consistent approach is adopted by all local authorities in ensuring that individuals register to vote;
	(2)  how the Government plan to enforce registration of all voters at a local authority level.

Bridget Prentice: Sections 9 and 10 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and section 9 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 (EAA 2006), set out the necessary steps that all local authorities must follow to ensure that eligible individuals are registered to vote.
	These steps include sending the canvass form more than once to any address, conducting house to house enquiries and making contact by such other means as appropriate. Each local authority will adopt an approach which is appropriate to local circumstances, within the context of the necessary steps.
	Section 67 of the EAA 2006 allows the Electoral Commission to set and monitor performance standards for electoral services. The Commission is currently developing electoral registration indicators and these should be implemented across England and Wales during December 2007. The aim of these indicators is to improve performance in electoral services, which will help to increase registration levels and compile a more accurate register.

European Land Information Service

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what funding from the public purse has been provided for the European Land Information Service.

Bridget Prentice: There has been no funding of the European Land Information Service (EULIS) from public expenditure. The service has been developed and financed by a consortium of European land registration authorities, including HM Land Registry, with support from the European Commission's eContent and eTEN funding programmes. Land Registry is a trading fund and, as such, finances its operations from fee income and makes no call on public expenditure.

Incapacity Benefit: Appeals

Lynne Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2007,  Official Report, column 622W, on incapacity benefit appeals, what the reasons are for the average clearance time for incapacity benefit appeals; and what measures she is putting in place to improve performance.

Vera Baird: The figures given in response to the previous question relate to the average time from when the appeal is lodged in the Department for Work and Pensions until the date for the first hearing.
	The average waiting time performance and actual performance within the Tribunals Service is contained in the following table.
	
		
			  Weeks 
			   Performance target  Actual performance 
			 2003-04 13 11.2 
			 2004-05 11 10.4 
			 2005-06 11 10.4 
		
	
	The aim of the Tribunals Service is to list incapacity benefit appeals to the first available session on receipt of the pre-hearing enquiry form from the appellant. In determining this date, a balance needs to be struck between how soon an appeal can be heard and giving customers sufficient time in which to prepare for their hearing including seeking representation and further medical evidence in support of their appeal.

Incapacity Benefit: Appeals

Lynne Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the average success rate is of appeals against refusal of incapacity benefit  (a) overall,  (b) made in person and  (c) made on the basis of written evidence alone.

Vera Baird: The latest available data are contained in the following tables.
	
		
			  Table 1:  Hearing outcomes by type of attendance and benefit in the quarter ending March 2006 
			   Benefit/tax credit 
			  Cleared at hearing (oral and paper)  Incapacity benefit (personal capability assessment)  Incapacity benefit (not personal capability assessment) 
			 Appeals cleared at hearing 11,675 1,185 
			 Appeals decided in favour of appellant 5,560 425 
			 Percentage 47.6 35.9 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2:  Hearing outcomes by type of attendance and benefit in the quarter ending March 2006 
			   Benefit/tax credit 
			  Appellant only attended  Incapacity benefit (personal capability assessment)  Incapacity benefit (not personal capability assessment) 
			 Appeals cleared at hearing 3,625 305 
			 Appeals decided in favour of appellant 2,215 155 
			 Percentage 61.1 50.8 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3:  Hearing outcomes by type of attendance and benefit in the quarter ending March 2006 
			   Appeals cleared at hearing 
			  Representative only attended  Incapacity benefit (personal capability assessment)  Incapacity benefit (not personal capability assessment) 
			 Appeals cleared at hearing 170 25 
			 Appeals decided in favour of appellant 75 15 
			 Percentage 44.1 60.0 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 4:  Hearing outcomes by type of attendance and benefit in the quarter ending March 2006 
			   Appeals cleared at hearing 
			  Both appellant and representative attended  Incapacity benefit (personal capability assessment)  Incapacity benefit (not personal capability assessment) 
			 Appeals cleared at hearing 2,965 215 
			 Appeals decided in favour of appellant 2,190 150 
			 Percentage 73.9 69.8 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 5:  Hearing outcomes by type of attendance and benefit in the quarter ending March 2006 
			   Appeals cleared at hearing 
			  Not attended  Incapacity benefit (personal capability assessment)  Incapacity benefit (not personal capability assessment) 
			 Appeals cleared at hearing 4,235 580 
			 Appeals decided in favour of appellant 730 90 
			 Percentage 17.2 15.5 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 6:  Hearing outcomes by type of attendance and benefit in the quarter ending March 2006 
			   Appeals cleared at hearing 
			  Attendance not known  Incapacity benefit (personal capability assessment)  Incapacity benefit (not personal capability assessment) 
			  Attendance not known   
			 Appeals cleared at hearing 680 60 
			 Appeals decided in favour of appellant 350 20 
			 Percentage 51.5 33.3

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when she expects to reply to the letter to her dated 20 February from the right hon. Member for Manchester Gorton with regard to Anwar Mortlock.

Bridget Prentice: My right hon. Friend the Lord Chancellor responded to my right hon. Friend's letter on 21 March. I apologise for the delay.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when she expects to reply to the letters of  (a) 23 November 2006 and  (b) 1 March 2007 on Mr. Nettleingham from the hon. Member for Billericay.

Vera Baird: My hon. Friend Baroness Ashton of Upholland replied to the hon. Gentleman's letter on 22 March. I apologise for the delay.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan: Drugs

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Afghan law permits the cultivation of opium for medicinal use.

Margaret Beckett: The Afghan counter-narcotics law was passed as a decree in December 2005. In order to allow Afghanistan to fulfil its obligations under the 1972 UN convention on drugs and its protocols, the law has provisions for the licensed cultivation of opium poppy.
	However, the counter-narcotics law is currently being redrafted. This follows representations from members of the Afghan Parliament asking for the provision for legal cultivation to be removed, as opium cultivation is against Article 7 of the Constitution.

Afghanistan: Drugs

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what mandate the UK has as the G8 lead nation for counter-narcotics in Afghanistan; whether this mandate has changed in the last 12 months; and what plans there are for the mandate to be changed before 2010.

Margaret Beckett: Following the Bonn Agreement in 2001, a number of G8 countries took on lead responsibility for specific Security Sector Reform work. The UK took lead responsibility for counter narcotics. When the Afghan Compact was agreed at the London Conference in early 2006, the international community recognised the progress that had been made since the Bonn Agreement. It was agreed with the Afghan Government that the concept of lead nation was now redundant, they now had lead responsibility for all aspects of Security Sector Reform, and that the G8 countries should become partner nations. There are no plans for our mandate to change before 2010.

Afghanistan: Drugs

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the UK's counter-narcotics strategy is in Afghanistan in relation to the production of cannabis; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: The cultivation of cannabis is against Afghan law and is covered by the Afghan Government's national drug control strategy. The UK's counter narcotics effort in Afghanistan is focused on supporting implementation of the national drug control strategy with regards to the heroin trade.

Afghanistan: Drugs

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what role the UK plays in the Good Performance Initiative in Afghanistan; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: The UK supports the Good Performers Initiative (GPI) which is a partnership between the international community and the Afghan Government, established in late 2006, designed to assist and encourage provinces in Afghanistan to reduce poppy cultivation by providing funds for development projects. To date, the six provinces that were opium poppy free in 2006 have been awarded US $500,000 each, and eight provinces that cultivated less than l,000 hectares of opium poppy in 2006 have been awarded US $150,000. Funding of the GPI will in future be discussed through the Counter-Narcotics Trust Fund, to which the UK is a contributor.

Afghanistan: Overseas Aids

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans there are to provide UK officials and development advisers in Helmand province in Afghanistan, as set out in the Enduring Relationship Action Plan 2006-07; what their role is expected to be; and from which Government Departments she expects them to come.

Margaret Beckett: Advisers from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department for International Development, Post Conflict Reconstruction Unit and the police are already working out of our provincial reconstruction team in Helmand province. They are involved in a range of good governance activities designed to extend the Government's influence across the province.

Colombia: Human Rights

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment her Department has made of abuses of human rights in Colombia; and if she will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: Human rights are at the heart of our policy towards Colombia and we keep the human rights situation in Colombia under constant review.
	The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right's (UNHCHR) latest report on Colombia, published on 15 March, provides a thorough assessment of the human rights situation in the country. It highlights continuing areas of concern, but also recognises the positive commitment by the Colombian Government, and the concrete progress made in several key areas. We very much agree with the thrust of the report and believe that it is important to recognise advances as well as challenges facing Colombia. We will continue to support the UNHCHR Office in Colombia in their valuable work with the Colombian Government, international community and civil society.
	A copy of the report will be placed in the Library of the House.

Colombia: Trade Unions

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the UK Government have made to the  (a) Government of Colombia and  (b) International Labour Organisation on the rights of trade unions to operate in Colombia.

Ian McCartney: I met with Colombian Vice President Santos at the UN Human Rights Council in March. While I welcomed the significant progress that Colombia had made, I pointed out that civil society and trade union development in Colombia continued to present big challenges.
	My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, has met with both British and Colombian trade unionists in the UK and Colombia. This close contact was enhanced during his visit to the region in September 2006 when he met again with trade unions in order to strengthen, links, learn from shared experiences and to demonstrate the importance the UK attaches to the role of civil society in Colombia. There was detailed discussions of the role of the new International Labour Organisation (ILO) office in Bogota, Colombia. Our Embassy in Bogota also regularly communicates with Colombian trade unions.
	We remain concerned that threats against trade unionists and human rights defenders remain in Colombia. However, we are encouraged by the positive steps the Government of Colombia have been taking to improve the human rights situation. For example, a new unit of specialised prosecutors has been established to deal with cases of human rights abuses involving trade unionists, with greater resources—a point specifically welcomed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in his report on Colombia, published on 15 March.
	We continue to urge the Government of Colombia to meet their international obligations in regard to workers' rights. But we believe that change can be best achieved through a supportive approach; and consider the ILO's Special Technical Co-operation Programme for Colombia to be one of the most effective ways of helping to bring about real and positive improvement in workers' rights in that country. We are encouraged that the ILO has established an office in Colombia and hope that this will be a step forward in improving labour issues in the country.

Cyprus

Edward O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has received on  (a) proposals for the development of land in the Morphou area of Cyprus for tourist purposes and  (b) proposals to distribute Greek Cypriot-owned land in the area to young Turkish settlers; and what steps she plans to take in response to the proposals.

Geoff Hoon: We are aware of property development in the Morphou area, and have received representations from hon. Members, including the question tabled by my hon. Friend in February of last year. As explained in the response the previous Minister for Europe on 7 February 2006,  Official Report, column 738, we maintain dialogue with the Turkish Cypriot community leaders on the issue of property, but are unable to control property development in northern Cyprus. We believe that the difficult and complex issue of property is only likely to be resolved in the context of a comprehensive settlement. To this end, we continue to urge both sides to engage constructively with the United Nations to enable settlement negotiations to start as soon as possible.

European Movement

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether she has met representatives of the European Movement since assuming her position.

Geoff Hoon: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not formally met representatives from the European Movement since assuming her position, but I have had the opportunity to meet a range of contacts. For instance, in January 2007, I spoke at a panel-style debate organised by the European Movement as part of a series of "Speak Up Europe" debates being held across the European Union. On 22 March, I gave a keynote speech at a European Movement conference at Chatham House called "Celebrating 50 years of the Treaty of Rome".

European Union

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what involvement the UK Government have had on the drafting of the Declaration of Berlin.

Geoff Hoon: Chancellor Merkel wrote to Heads of State and Government in January asking each member state to nominate a 'focal point' and accompanying aide to liaise with the Presidency in their consultations in preparation for the 50th Anniversary Declaration. The UK 'focal points' are Mr. Kim Darroch (Head of the Cabinet Office European Secretariat) and Ms Shan Morgan (EU Director in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office).
	The German Presidency drafted the Berlin Declaration. During that process they consulted all member states on what they wished to see included in the text.

Sudan: Peace Keeping Operations

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether there is a deadline for a formal response by the President of Sudan to the UN Secretary-General's letter of 24 January requesting Sudanese agreement to the heavy support package of United Nations support to the African Union Mission in the Sudan; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: The UN Secretary-General did not set a deadline for President Bashir to respond to his letter of 24 January. However, President Bashir's delay in doing so, and now his refusal to endorse the Heavy Support Package as agreed between the AU and UN, highlights Sudan's reluctance to have the UN deploy in Darfur. This is part of a wider pattern of non-co-operation with the international community. The UK will be pushing for tougher measures in the Security Council against Sudan, including a country-wide arms embargo and further targeted sanctions.

Venezuela

Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has made to the US Administration on their attempts to prevent Venezuela from attending the Community Democracies meeting in Malawi scheduled for June 2007.

Geoff Hoon: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers and officials have made no representations to the US Administration on their position on Venezuelan attendance at the Community of Democracies meeting scheduled for Bamako, Mali, in November 2007.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Carer's Allowances

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were in receipt of both carer's allowance and working tax credits in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Anne McGuire: The requested information is not currently available.

Carer's Allowances

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans his Department has to ensure that single parents receive the same weekly rate of carer's allowance as a parent living with a spouse, civil partner or another person; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The rate of carer's allowance is the same whether being claimed by a single parent or a member of a couple.

Children: Maintenance

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether regulations on time limits which apply to the collection of civil debts also apply to the collection by the Child Support Agency of historical arrears of child maintenance.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 19 March 2007
	The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Gentleman with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 27 March 2007:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether regulations on time limits which apply to the collection of civil debts also apply to the collection by the Child Support Agency of historic arrears of child maintenance.
	When a non-resident parent has defaulted on child support payments, and arrears have accrued, as a result the Child Support Agency may instigate debt recovery by alternative measures such as of civil court action or by employing the services of an external collection agency. If the non-resident parent is employed then a Deduction from Earnings Order may be implemented to recover both ongoing child support maintenance and an amount towards arrears.
	Although in England and Wales most civil debt is subject to the Statute of Limitations, the time bar relating to collection of child maintenance debt is determined by the Child Support (Collection and Enforcement) Regulations 1992, Regulation 28 (2A) as amended by the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2006. When pursuing collection and enforcement through the courts this legislation has the effect of removing the 6 year limitation in respect of all amounts that became due after 12 July 2000. The Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, limits the age of debt recoverable through the Scottish civil courts to twenty years.
	Where a Deduction from Earnings Order has been implemented there is no time bar limiting the age of the arrears that can be recovered using this method.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Disability Living Allowance

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of repeat applications for disability living allowance for under 18-year-olds  (a) were down rated and  (b) received no new award in the last period for which figures are available; what proportion of such applications were appealed in that period; and what proportion of those appeals were successful.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available.

Disability Living Allowance

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the take-up rate of disability living allowance for children; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available.

Disability Living Allowance

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of households in receipt of disability living allowance for a child receive it for  (a) two children and  (b) three or more children.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available.

Disability Living Allowance

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households receiving disability living allowance for a child are in receipt of carer's allowance for an adult.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available.

Full Employment Agency: Manpower

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of staff who will be employed by the new Full Employment Agency in Scotland.

Jim Murphy: The Full Employment Agency is a matter which we are discussing with the Scottish Executive. No estimate has been made by DWP of the cost of the number of staff who will be employed by the proposed agency.

Independent Living Fund

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many thefts of the Independent Living Fund's back-up tapes of personal data there have been in the last 12 months.

Anne McGuire: I have been advised by the trustees that in the last 12 months there has been one theft of an Independent Living Fund's back-up tape containing personal data.

New Deal Schemes

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of  (a) all leavers,  (b) female leavers and  (c) male leavers from new deal 50 plus (i) found unsubsidised jobs and (ii) returned to jobseeker's allowance on leaving the programme in each year since 2000.

Jim Murphy: The information is in the table.
	
		
			  New deal 50 plus 
			Percentage of leavers with an immediate destination of: 
			  Leavers  Year of leaving  Unsubsidised employment  Jobseeker's allowance 
			 All 2004 44 26 
			  2005 38 31 
			 Male 2004 44 28 
			  2005 37 33 
			 Female 2004 44 20 
			  2005 40 27 
			  Notes: Information on the immediate destination of leavers from new deal 50 plus is only available from February 2004. Figures are based on calendar years. Earliest data are for February 2004 and latest data are to May 2006. Latest complete year data are to December 2005.  Source: Information Directorate, Department for Work and Pensions

New Deal Schemes

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were on the New Deal 25 plus programme in each month since 1998; and how many were in the  (a) Gateway and  (b) Intensive Activity Period in each month.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 1 March 2007
	 The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  New deal 25 plus 
			Of which, participating in: 
			   Total participants  Gateway  Intensive activity period 
			  2001
			 April 10,580 10,470 110 
			 May 18,930 18,520 410 
			 June 27,520 26,280 1,210 
			 July 33,610 31,380 2,160 
			 August 40,660 36,400 4,070 
			 September 45,230 38,400 6,470 
			 October 48,850 39,500 8,710 
			 November 53,320 40,720 11,330 
			 December 56,410 42,420 11,890 
			 
			  2002
			 January 57,530 41,410 13,190 
			 February 57,830 39,720 14,330 
			 March 58,190 37,940 15,550 
			 April 58,410 37,260 15,820 
			 May 59,060 36,970 15,940 
			 June 58,970 36,570 15,730 
			 July 58,960 36,350 15,540 
			 August 58,920 36,660 14,810 
			 September 58,170 35,830 15,020 
			 October 62,000 39,870 15,040 
			 November 64,430 42,100 15,330 
			 December 65,800 43,750 14,710 
			 
			  2003
			 January 65,870 43,520 14,930 
			 February 65,220 41,870 15,900 
			 March 64,300 40,190 16,770 
			 April 64,300 40,100 16,720 
			 May 64,110 39,830 16,230 
			 June 63,020 38,780 16,070 
			 July 62,020 37,810 15,900 
			 August 61,130 37,310 15,110 
			 September 60,010 36,400 14,910 
			 October 58,950 35,560 14,790 
			 November 57,980 34,800 14,870 
			 December 57,990 35,260 14,120 
			 
			  2004
			 January 57,180 35,020 13,940 
			 February 56,420 34,450 13,890 
			 March 55,350 33,750 13,800 
			 April 54,690 33,350 13,350 
			 May 54,610 33,420 13,150 
			 June 54,330 33,230 13,180 
			 July 54,350 33,310 13,260 
			 August 55,160 34,150 13,220 
			 September 54,930 33,980 13,180 
			 October 54,490 33,700 13,330 
			 November 54,570 33,580 13,440 
			 December 55,500 34,810 12,740 
			 
			  2005
			 January 55,350 34,640 12,820 
			 February 55,410 34,290 13,250 
			 March 54,770 33,460 13,480 
			 April 53,810 32,820 13,060 
			 May 53,320 32,470 12,640 
			 June 52,780 32,140 12,410 
			 July 51,570 31,600 11,890 
			 August 50,970 31,650 11,150 
			 September 49,690 31,180 10,520 
			 October 48,720 30,970 10,040 
			 November 48,200 31,180 9,710 
			 December 48,560 32,060 9,040 
			 
			  2006
			 January 48,410 31,940 9,240 
			 February 48,630 31,920 9,660 
			 March 48,590 31,610 10,240 
			 April 48,650 31,430 10,210 
			 May 49,210 32,080 9,820 
			 June 49,510 32,110 10,080 
			 July 49,970 33,400 9,190 
			 August 50,820 34,240 9,390 
			  Notes: 1. Information is only available from April 2001. 2. Gateway figures include people who have been invited to their first Gateway interview but who may not yet have attended the interview. 3. Participant figures include those on the 'follow-through' stage of the programme which occurs after the intensive activity period. 4. Latest information is to August 2006. 5. Figures are rounded to nearest 10.  Source: Information Directorate, Department for Work and Pensions.

New Deal Schemes

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were eligible to participate in each of the new deal programmes when each was initiated.

Jim Murphy: The information available is in the following table.
	
		
			   Date new deal started  Number of people eligible to participate 
			 New deal for young people (NDYP) April 1998 113,000 
			 New deal 25 plus (ND 25+) July 1998 168,000 
			 New deal for lone parents (NDLP) October 1998 (1)939,000 
			 New deal for partners (NDP) April 1999 87,000 
			 New deal 50 plus (ND50+) April 2000 (2)1,455,002 
			 New deal for disabled people (NDDP) July 2001 (3)2,805,000 
			 Notes: 1. Data are held quarterly so the figure given is for November 1998. 2. Data are held quarterly so the figure given is for May 2000. 3. Data are held quarterly so the figure given is for August 2001. 4. NDYP is a mandatory programme for claimants aged 18-24 who have been claiming jobseeker's allowance (JSA) for six months. 5. ND25+ is a mandatory programme which was initially introduced for claimants aged 25 and over who had been claiming JSA for two years. 6. NDLP is a voluntary programme. Lone parents can participate if they are not working, or working less than 16 hours per week, and their youngest child is under 16 years old. 7. NDP is a voluntary programme. When it was initially introduced in April 1999, partners of claimants who had been claiming JSA for at least 26 weeks were eligible to join the programme. 8. ND50+ is a voluntary programme which supports people aged 50 or over who have been claiming benefits including JSA, income support, incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance for six months or more. 9. NDDP is a voluntary programme for disabled people who are in receipt of certain qualifying benefit (for example, incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance).

Pathways to Work

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have passed through Pathways to Work programmes in each year since their inception, broken down by  (a) area and  (b) whether the participants had a physical or mental disability; and what proportion obtained work in each case.

Jim Murphy: The available information is in the tables.
	Note that the figures for those entering work are for those recorded as doing so on Jobcentre Plus systems and will understate true work outcomes.
	Jobs measured by the Job Entry Target (JET) up to March 2006 are for the most part job opportunities that customers have been submitted to by JCP staff and that JCP staff have followed up to confirm the job entry, or jobs from NDDP brokers. Not all jobs obtained by people who have made an IB claim in a Pathways to Work area will be obtained in this manner as they would also be looking at newspaper ads, employment agencies, the internet, word of mouth, etc.
	Since April 2006 jobs have been measured via the Job Outcome Target (JOT). This is based on HMRC income tax payment records it not a complete measure of all job entries for a number of reasons. For example; a large proportion of part-time/lower paid jobs will not be reported as they are below the tax threshold.
	
		
			  Numbers starting pathways to work in each district 
			  District  October 2003 to March 2004  April 2004 to March 2005  April 2005 to March 2006 
			 Derbyshire 6,500 14,440 14,970 
			 Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, Argyll and Bute 4,590 8,800 10,010 
			 Bridgend, Rhondda, Cynon and Taf 4,720 10,200 11,180 
			 Lancashire East — 10,990 12,460 
			 Somerset — 6,780 7,000 
			 Gateshead and South Tyneside — 9,130 9,860 
			 Essex — 20,060 20,490 
			 Cumbria — — 3,640 
			 Glasgow — — 16,090 
			 Lancashire West — — 5,010 
			 Tees Valley — — 3,770 
			 Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham — — — 
			 City of Sunderland — — — 
			 County Durham — — — 
			 Lanarkshire and East Dumbartonshire — — — 
			 Liverpool and the Wirral — — — 
			 Greater Manchester Central — — — 
			 Swansea Bay and West Wales — — — 
		
	
	
		
			  Proportions entering work from pathways in each district( 1) 
			  Percentage 
			  District  October 2003 to March 2004  all jobs( 2)  April 2004 to March 2005  all jobs 
			 Derbyshire 17 16 
			 Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, Argyll and Bute 24 22 
			 Bridgend, Rhondda, Cynon and Taf 23 21 
			 Lancashire East — 19 
			 Somerset — 19 
			 Gateshead and South Tyneside — 17 
			 Essex — 11 
		
	
	
		
			  Numbers starting pathways to work by type of disability 
			  Disability  October 2003 to  March 2004  April 2004 to  March 2005  April 2005 to  March 2006 
			 Mental Health Condition 4,560 21,720 33,090 
			 Physical Disability 6,570 33,820 46,130 
			 Not known/not yet diagnosed 4,760 25,200 35,540 
		
	
	
		
			  Proportions entering work from pathways by type of disability( 1) 
			  Percentage 
			  Disability  October 2003 to March 2004 all jobs( 2)  April 2004 to March 2005 all jobs 
			 Mental Health Condition 23 19 
			 Physical Disability 19 16 
			 Not known/not yet diagnosed 21 17 
			 (1) The proportions entering work for this period are based on new claimants only, excluding the small number of existing customers brought in during this period. (2) Jobs recorded in Jobcentre Plus systems—the true proportion entering work will be higher than this.  Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. A value of '-' indicates a nil or negligible value. A value of '.' indicates that the value has not been calculated. 2. As pathways began in October 2003, the first year covers approximately six months. The second and third years, based on an operational year, run from April until March. The last year covers approximately three months, until the last recorded data in June 2006. 3. Data for starts on pathways are to end of June 2006. Data for job entries are to end of March 2006. No more recent data are available for job entries because the previous job entry measure was terminated in March 2006, and the new job outcomes target data which replaced it have an approximate six month reporting lag, so that April 2006 data are not yet available. Because of the time it takes for pathways participants to find work, the latest cohort of entrants for whom it is possible to give a meaningful figure for proportion entering work is those starting in September 2005. Even then, this figure is potentially misleading if compared with earlier cohorts, as many find work more than six months after joining. To give a more useful comparison over time, the proportion finding jobs within six months is also given. 4. Additionally, this understates total job entries since it only counts those recorded in Jobcentre Plus systems. Survey data from the independent evaluation suggest for example that 42 per cent. of pathways participants had done at least some paid work in the 10 months after starting.. 5. Job entry figures include all recorded job entries plus return to work credit (RTWC) awards for which no job entry is yet recorded. (By definition, an RTWC award must indicate that a job entry has occurred). Figures for job entries include new deal for disabled people (NDDP) job starts. 6. Data for physical disability are based on those participants for whom a medical condition is recorded, but whose condition is not classified as a mental health condition. 7. The data on medical condition for Pathways to Work participants are incomplete. This is because they are drawn from incapacity benefit data that appear in the National Benefits Database (NBD). This impacts on the completeness of pathways medical condition data in two ways; (1) NBD lags behind other Pathways Evaluation Database sources by some three to four months, and (2) The NBD incapacity benefit data are based on a six-weekly snapshot, which means that some short-term claims of less than six weeks are not included.  Source: Pathways to Work Evaluation Database

Personal Income

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people earned over the  (a) £5,  (b) £10 and  (c) £20 per week earning disregard and had their income support for incapacity reduced in each of the last three years.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 19 March 2007
	 The information is not available.

Poverty

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the next publication of Households Below Average Income is due.

James Plaskitt: The next publication of Households Below Average Income is due on 27 March 2007.

Social Security Benefits

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was paid to individual  (a) male and  (b) female recipients aged (i) 18 to 25, (ii) 26 to 30, (iii) 31 to 40, (iv) 41 to 50, (v) 51 to 60, (vi) 61 to 70, (vii) 71 to 80 and (viii) over 80 years excluding pensions and pension credits in the last period for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available other than at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Benefits Rules

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of people who are undertaking permitted work;
	(2)  how many people claming  (a) incapacity benefit,  (b) severe disablement allowance and  (c) income support for incapacity are recorded as undertaking permitted work.

Anne McGuire: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the written answer I gave on 22 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1079W.

Social Security Benefits: Benefits Rules

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department records the number of people undertaking permitted work.

Anne McGuire: Yes.

Social Security Benefits: Carers

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of benefits provided to carers working more than 35 hours per week who receive  (a) income support,  (b) jobseeker's allowance and  (c) the carer's allowance; what the basis is for the differences in the amounts paid via the different channels; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: These benefits are designed to help carers in very different circumstances. Income support and the income-based element of jobseekers allowance, both of which include extra help for carers, are intended to ensure that people of working age and their families can meet all their normal daily living needs when they are out of work. Carer's allowance provides a measure of income-maintenance to those carers who provide at least 35 hours of care each week for a severely disabled person, but who are not entitled to additional means-tested support from the benefit system.
	We have introduced improvements for carers in all these benefits, in addition to the normal annual uprating. We also review the adequacy of these benefits at regular intervals.

Social Security Benefits: Disabled

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate his Department has made of the cost of increasing the earning disregard for  (a) incapacity benefit,  (b) income support for incapacity and (c) carer's allowance.

Anne McGuire: Part-time work while on incapacity benefit is covered by the permitted work rules and while on carer's allowance by an earnings limit, rather than the earnings disregards.
	DWP has no reliable estimate of the cost of changing the earnings disregard limit in income support for sick and disabled people. The cost varies widely according to the nature of the change being proposed.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what projects his Department has undertaken with the Staffordshire Police Authority to combat fraudulent activities in relation to benefits in the last 12 months.

James Plaskitt: Investigators from the Department for Work and Pensions collaborates with officers from Staffordshire police authority on cases where they have a common interest and where the Department requires police assistance.
	An example of current joint working with Staffordshire police authority is Operation Oblique. This was set up to investigate a number of girocheques which were reported as missing but were subsequently discovered to have been cashed. The investigation is continuing and at least one person has so far been arrested.
	As well as investigations relating to benefit fraud, DWP also works with Staffordshire police on investigations which relate to the integrity of the national insurance number system.

State Retirement Pensions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what methodology the Government use to decide what annual pension increase to award.

James Purnell: The level of the uprating for state pensions is calculated using the increase in the retail prices index for the 12 months ending in the preceding September. This enables us to complete the action necessary to ensure that the new rates for over 11 million pensioners are put into payment in April.

TREASURY

Breast Cancer: Greater London

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many women  (a) were diagnosed with and  (b) died from breast cancer in each of the last five years; and what the figures were for each London borough.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 27 March 2007:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many women (a) were diagnosed with and (b) died from breast cancer in each of the last five years; and what the figures were for each London borough.
	The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases (incidence) of malignant neoplasm of breast are for the years 2004. Figures for 2000-2004 for England and the London boroughs are given in Table 1 below.
	The latest available figures for deaths are for the year 2005. Figures for 2001-2005 for England and the London boroughs are given in Table 2 below.
	
		
			  Table 1: registrations of newly diagnosed cases of malignant neoplasm of breast( 1)  in females 2000-04: England and London boroughs( 2) 
			   2000  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			 England 34,712 35,315 35,149 37,283 36,939 
			   
			 Barking and Dagenham 98 82 126 101 59 
			 Barnet 203 213 215 171 200 
			 Bexley 156 168 132 180 173 
			 Brent 117 136 128 129 130 
			 Bromley 216 254 250 257 221 
			 Camden 113 97 81 107 123 
			 Croydon 218 200 244 187 223 
			 Ealing 149 161 129 186 137 
			 Enfield 158 188 164 159 152 
			 Greenwich 131 134 146 129 114 
			 Hackney 115 79 85 101 67 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 91 85 64 88 62 
			 Haringey 109 113 87 112 98 
			 Harrow 153 133 141 172 130 
			 Havering 148 169 138 195 168 
			 Hillingdon 129 126 152 126 130 
			 Hounslow 121 98 95 120 99 
			 Islington 97 81 87 79 63 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 82 113 109 94 68 
			 Kingston Upon Thames 120 109 110 99 98 
			 Lambeth 144 101 146 126 137 
			 Lewisham 125 140 147 112 137 
			 Merton 109 119 109 144 102 
			 Newham 78 87 99 79 91 
			 Redbridge 124 147 114 162 141 
			 Richmond Upon Thames 122 100 129 145 104 
			 Southwark 123 124 131 137 115 
			 Sutton 125 128 89 129 90 
			 Tower Hamlets 72 66 67 75 82 
			 Waltham Forest 123 105 108 115 86 
			 Wandsworth 117 134 156 138 148 
			 Westminster 126 124 124 147 87 
			 (1) Malignant neoplasm of breast is defined as code C50 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10). (2) Using 2007 local authority boundaries for all years shown. Source: Office for National Statistics 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: mortality in females from malignant neoplasm of breast( 1) , England and London boroughs( 2) , 2001-05( 3) 
			   2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 England 10,860 10,795 10,501 10,288 10,297 
			   
			 Barking and Dagenham 34 32 35 34 36 
			 Barnet 66 68 71 80 59 
			 Bexley 51 45 55 36 34 
			 Brent 46 46 44 34 42 
			 Bromley 65 69 61 68 56 
			 Camden 37 29 25 33 26 
			 Croydon 61 72 64 69 67 
			 Ealing 45 38 52 45 48 
			 Enfield 52 43 50 43 54 
			 Greenwich 44 48 45 36 35 
			 Hackney 24 33 27 28 21 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 27 21 26 22 20 
			 Haringey 37 28 36 30 36 
			 Harrow 38 36 49 40 43 
			 Havering 73 59 57 51 57 
			 Hillingdon 53 52 47 60 56 
			 Hounslow 46 37 42 41 38 
			 Islington 24 28 29 25 21 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 24 25 18 22 13 
			 Kingston Upon Thames 19 39 30 21 20 
			 Lambeth 37 41 31 34 35 
			 Lewisham 44 55 49 43 48 
			 Merton 46 35 33 35 38 
			 Newham 41 24 34 35 18 
			 Redbridge 47 54 51 40 44 
			 Richmond Upon Thames 42 29 26 34 35 
			 Southwark 25 44 32 34 32 
			 Sutton 39 38 41 26 34 
			 Tower Hamlets 26 21 24 30 19 
			 Waltham Forest 43 48 39 34 32 
			 Wandsworth 42 37 33 36 34 
			 Westminster 32 32 38 35 31 
			 (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C50 for years 2001-05, for malignant neoplasm of breast. (2) Using 2007 local authority boundaries for deaths for all years shown. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.

Corporation Tax

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the timetable is for the proposed rewrite of corporation tax law.

Dawn Primarolo: The first of the proposed corporation tax rewrite Bills is expected to be enacted early in 2009 and the second a year later. This will complete the proposed rewrite of corporation tax legislation. The timetable has been agreed by the Tax Law Rewrite project's Steering and Consultative Committees.

Corporation Tax

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the cost of the corporation tax rewrite to  (a) the Government and  (b) business.

Dawn Primarolo: The cost of the work of the Tax Law Rewrite project in relation to the rewrite of corporation tax is estimated to be £10 million spread over the years 2005-06 to 2009-10.
	The cost of the rewrite to business will mainly arise through tax professionals spending time becoming familiar with the rewritten legislation. It has not been possible to quantify this cost. But users have expressed confidence that the clearer legislation in those Acts will result in efficiency savings many times greater than this initial cost.

Corporation Tax

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the tax code on corporation tax has been determined since  (a) 1997 and  (b) 2000.

Dawn Primarolo: This information is not currently available and the cost of providing a precise answer would be disproportionate.

Corporation Tax

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on his proposals for a corporation tax law rewrite Bill.

Dawn Primarolo: The Tax Law Rewrite project was set up in 1996 under the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke), the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Shortly after this the project issued a consultation document outlining proposals for taking the work forward. There were over 70 written responses including responses from most of the representative bodies in the tax field.
	There was unanimous support for the general proposals and nearly the same level of support for rewriting and separating the income tax and corporation tax codes, a proposal which has been adopted.
	Extensive consultation has always been a key aspect of the project's work. It has a steering committee and a consultative committee made up of representatives of professional bodies. Its work is also published on the internet for wider consultation.
	The first draft corporation tax clauses were published for consultation in 2006 and a response document will be published shortly. The project has also published papers on the scope of the corporation tax rewrite. Its scope has been agreed by both the steering and the consultative committees. The intention is to complete the rewrite of corporation tax in two Bills.

Debt and Derivatives

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on proposals to rewrite the tax law in relation to debt and derivatives.

Dawn Primarolo: The Tax Law Rewrite project's work involves widespread consultation with representative bodies and others interested in tax legislation. In the ordinary course of this process, representations have been received by the project about whether the loan relationships and derivative contract legislation should be rewritten and if so, when.
	The Consultative Committee of the Tax Law Rewrite project is made up of a wide range of representative bodies including those that made representations about this issue. It recently agreed the proposal to include these rewritten provisions in the first of the two corporation tax rewrite Bills. This decision was endorsed by the project's steering committee.

Departments: Conflict of Interests

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many instances there have been under Section 5.17 of the Ministerial Code of a Minister in his Department having duties removed to avoid a potential conflict of interest in the last five years.

John Healey: All provisions of the Ministerial Code, including those relating to financial interests, have been observed by Treasury Ministers.

EC Budget

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the gross cash contribution from the UK to the EU  (a) was in each year since 1997 and  (b) is expected to be in each year to the end of the 2007 Budget period; what the gross cash receipts from the EU to the UK (i) were and (ii) are expected to be in each year; what the net cash contribution to the EU from the UK (A) was and (B) is expected to be in each year; what the main elements making up the (1) gross contribution and (2) gross receipts (x) were and (y) are expected to be in each year; and what the main factors affecting changes from year to year (aa) were and (bb) are expected to be in each case.

Edward Balls: The UK gross contribution to the EU budget, receipts, net contribution and the elements thereof for 2000-06, as well as the factors affecting the variations from one year to the next can be found in chapter 3 and the tables on pages 42 and 43 the EC Finances White Paper "Statement on the 2006 EC Budget and measures to counter fraud and financial management" (Cm 6670). The period 1997-99 is covered by the 2003 edition of the EC Finances White Paper (Cm 5800). The 2007 edition of the White Paper, which will cover the years 2001 to 2007, will be published later this year.
	A more recent forecast for UK net contributions to the EC budget in the years 2005-06 to 2007-08 can be found in the footnote to table C11 of the 2007 Financial Statement and Budget Report (HC 342). 2007-08 is the final year of the current public expenditure planning cycle and revised forecasts for the later years will be included in the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007.
	For estimated gross and net contributions to the EC budget and receipts over the next Financial Perspective I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), 31 January 2005,  Official  Report, column 399W.
	The main factor affecting the changes in both contributions and receipts in the 2007-13 Financial Perspective with respect to earlier years is the accession of 10 new member states in 2004 and of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007.

Housing: Valuation

Martin Horwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many valuations were made under section 128 of the Housing Act 1985 by the district valuer in  (a) Gloucestershire and  (b) Sheffield between 1 September 2005 and 1 February 2006.

Dawn Primarolo: Within the time frame 1 September 2005 and 1 February 2006, the number of determinations made by the district valuer under section 128 of the Housing Act 1985 are as follows:
	Gloucestershire (to include districts of Cheltenham, Cotswold, Forest of Dean, Stroud, Tewkesbury and City of Gloucester)—17;
	South Gloucestershire (Unitary Authority)—10.
	The Sheffield office of the Valuation Office Agency is responsible for determinations in the former Metropolitan county of South Yorkshire. Information has been provided for each district:
	City of Sheffield—47;
	Metropolitan borough of Rotherham—23;
	Metropolitan borough of Doncaster—12;
	Metropolitan borough of Barnsley11.

Inheritance Tax

Michael Gove: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the inheritance tax threshold was in each year since 1996-97.

Dawn Primarolo: The nil rate bands for inheritance tax in each of the last 10 financial years are given in table A.8 of HMRC National Statistics, available from the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/inheritance_tax/appendix_a8.pdf.
	At Budget 2007 the Chancellor announced that the IHT nil rate band will rise by more than expected statutory indexation to £350,000 in 2010-11.

Isle of Man

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to review the common purse agreement on VAT between the UK and the Isle of Man; and how much the UK paid to the Isle of Man under this agreement in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 23 March 2007
	The UK-Isle of Man revenue-sharing arrangement applies to a number of indirect taxes including VAT, customs duty and most excise duties, referred to as the "common duties". The Isle of Man's share of the common duties for each of the last 10 years is contained in the Isle of Man Annual Account. This account is certified by the National Audit Office, laid before Parliament and is therefore available from the House of Commons Library.
	The formula for calculating the Isle of Man's share of the common duties has recently been jointly reviewed by the UK and the Isle of Man and it has been agreed that a new formula will apply from 1 April 2007. A copy of the revised Treasury Direction, which sets out how the new revenue sharing formula will operate, will be placed in the House of Commons Library at the earliest opportunity.

Landfill Tax

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment the Government has made of the effect of the landfill tax escalator on  (a) local authorities' costs of dealing with waste,  (b) frequency of waste collections and  (c) council tax bills.

Dawn Primarolo: There is no net effect on the total cost to local authorities as a whole of increases in the standard rate of landfill tax above 15 per tonne. Provision has been made in the increases in the total revenue support grant for local authorities for the estimated additional revenue.
	The impact on the costs of individual local authorities, and so on council tax bills, will depend on the extent of the use of landfill by the authority.
	It is for local authorities to determine the nature and frequency of their waste collection service within the legal framework and taking account of local circumstances. Cost will be one consideration in such decisions.

Planning Gain Supplement

Michael Gove: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the revenue from planning-gain supplement from English developments in areas outside London he expects to be allocated to the English regional assemblies.

John Healey: At least 70 per cent. of planning-gain supplement (PGS) revenues would be returned to the local planning authority from which the planning permission was granted, and to which the PGS liability was attached. The Budget announced that the remaining share of all PGS revenues raised in a region would be returned to that region. Regions would have access to a fund for spending in support of regional infrastructure priorities in pursuit of the objectives identified in regional spatial strategies (RSSs).

Planning Gain Supplement

Michael Gove: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the revenue from planning gain supplement in Wales he plans to allocate to  (a) the Welsh Assembly and  (b) Welsh local authorities.

John Healey: As announced at the 2006 pre-Budget report, all planning-gain Supplement (PGS) revenues generated in the devolved Administrations would be returned to the country in which they were generated. The use of PGS funds in the devolved Administrations would be determined by the relevant Administrations, although it is proposed that PGS revenues should be dedicated to infrastructure throughout the UK.

Revenue and Customs: Manpower

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many full-time equivalent posts were  (a) lost and  (b) created in HM Revenue and Customs between April 2006 and February 2007 at (i) grades Administrative Assistant to Senior Officer, (ii) Grades 6 and 7 and (iii) Senior Civil Service grades.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 26 March 2007
	 The information requested is not available. HMRC does not record centrally details of all posts created within the department.
	However, HMRC has a target to reduce its number of full-time equivalent posts by 16,000 between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2008, and redeploy 3,500 of these to additional frontline posts. HMRC reports regularly on progress towards these efficiency targets in its Spring and Annual Reports, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.

Social Security Benefits: Orders and Regulations

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the advice provided by the Social Security Advisory Council to his Department on  (a) the Child Benefit (General) Regulations 2005,  (b) the Child Tax Credits (Amendment) Regulations 2005,  (c) the Child Tax Credits (Amendment) Regulations 2006,  (d) the Tax Credits (Claims and Notifications) (Amendment) Regulations 2006 and  (e) the Tax Credits (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer hon. Gentleman to the memorandum of understanding under which terms HMRC and the Social Security Advisory Committee conduct their business. The memorandum is available from the hmrc.gov.uk website or the Committee's website. The links are:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/news/ir-ssac.pdf
	http://www.ssac.org.uk/pdf/keydocs/BusGuideInRev.pdf

Stamp Duty: Carbon Emissions

David Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of homes built during 2006 which would have been eligible to be exempt from stamp duty as being zero carbon.

Edward Balls: No data exist on the exact number of homes built in 2006 that would meet the qualifying criteria set out in the Budget for zero carbon homes. As set out in the Budget, the relief will help to kick start the market for new highly efficient technologies in homes. The Government's aim is that within a decade all new homes will be zero carbon.

Students: Loans

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2007 to question 127940, what estimate he has made of the percentage of student loan repayments made to HM Revenue and Customs in financial years  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2003-04 that have not yet been passed on to the Student Loan Company; what estimate he has made of the total value of these payments; and how many people made student loan repayments during 2003-04.

Dawn Primarolo: For the financial year 2005-06 HM Revenue and Customs will only know the total number of borrowers who have had repayments deducted by their employer when they have finished processing all the employers' annual returns for that year.
	However, at the current date, the best estimate is that information on 83 per cent. of all student loan repayments has already been passed on to the Student Loans Company.
	For the financial year 2003-04 HMRC has passed information on student loan repayments for 277,499 borrowers to the Student Loans Company. HMRC is in the process of resolving queries that have delayed 21 cases (0.008 per cent.) being passed to the SLC.
	With regards to the total value of these payments, no student loan amounts are passed to the SLC at any stage. All student loan amounts recovered by HMRC are passed to the Department for Education and Skills on a quarterly basis for investment in education. It is only the information about borrower repayments that is included in the employer's annual return that is passed to the SLC once that information becomes available after the end of the financial year. Published 2003-04 and 2004-05 student loans cash receipts figures are available in the 2005 and 2006 HM Revenue and Customs annual report which can be accessed at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/reports.htm

Tax Havens

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received regarding the 2006 US Senate report into tax havens; and what meetings he has had in the last 12 months with the Isle of Man authorities on this issue.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 23 March 2007
	I am not aware of any representations in relation to the 2006 US Senate report on tax havens.
	My officials have had a number of meetings with officials from the Isle of Man on tax matters.

Tax Havens

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department has taken to reduce  (a) tax evasion and  (b) money laundering in tax haven states.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 23 March 2007
	The Government support and promote measures that aim to reduce tax evasion and money laundering internationally. In particular, we have worked in partnership with the EU and the OECD to introduce measures that enhance transparency and exchange of information, which is the key to tackling tax evasion. Specific measures include the EU Savings Tax Directive and its framework of agreements with other countries and territories and the OECD initiative on tackling harmful tax practices.
	From July 2007, the Government are taking action through the UK's Presidency of the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF—the international standards setter on money laundering and terrorist finance), to identify and tackle the most serious financial threats posed by criminals and terrorists.

Taxation: Hotels

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which organisations have made written representations to his Department on new, additional local taxation on hotel accommodation in the last 12 months, excluding submissions to the Lyons Inquiry.

John Healey: The Treasury receives numerous written representations on a range of tax issues, including tourist taxes.
	In line with the recommendation made by Sir Michael Lyons in his final report into the role and funding of local government that a robust evidence base has not been developed to support the introduction of a tourist tax, the Government do not intend to introduce a tourist tax. Tax policy is kept under constant review and changes are normally announced by the Chancellor at the Budget.

Tax Law Rewrite Project

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Tax Law Rewrite Project has identified changes in the law which would be beneficial but which require a policy decision.

Dawn Primarolo: Policy suggestions are sometimes made by those responding to draft clauses published by the Tax Law Rewrite project for comment.
	These are passed to officials with responsibility for the relevant policy areas for them to consider. All policy suggestions received in response to each draft Bill are listed in the response document for the relevant Bill.

Taxation: Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the cost of tax relief for approved pension schemes in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Balls: Latest detailed estimates of the annual cost of tax relief on approved pension schemes are available in table 7.9 on Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/pensions/menu.htm
	In addition a provisional estimate of the overall net cost of tax relief for the current year is given in table A3.1 of the Budget report. This is £16.3 billion for 2006-07.

Taxation: Small Businesses

Andrew Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of business taxation was paid by small businesses in the last period for which figures are available.

John Healey: The proportion of corporation tax paid by small companies in 2004-05 was 23 per cent.
	It is not possible to apportion other tax receipts between business taxpayers and others, or between business taxpayers of different sizes. This is due to a number of taxes (for example fuel duty) being paid by both businesses and individuals, and because markets adjust to shift the incidence of taxation throughout the economy.
	Figures on total receipts from individual taxes are available in tables 2.1A to 2.1E in Financial Statistics published by the Office for National Statistics.
	www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/tsdtables1.asp?vlnk=fsf

Valuation Office: Manpower

Michael Gove: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by the Valuation Office Agency in each year since 2000.

Dawn Primarolo: The numbers of full-time equivalent staff employed by the agency as at the end of March each year are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Number 
			 2000 3,803 
			 2001 3,771 
			 2002 3,740 
			 2003 4,000 
			 2004 3,803 
			 2005 4,812 
			 2006 4,850 
			 2007(1) 4,326 
			 1 As at 1 March

Welfare Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times Tax Credit Office staff reported technical problems with the computer system in each month since January 2006.

Dawn Primarolo: This information is not available.

Welfare Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many manual tax credit payments have been made since April 2003; how many claimants have received such payments; and what proportion of all  (a) payments and  (b) claimants these represent.

Dawn Primarolo: Around 1.6 million tax credits payments were made manually from April 2003 to January 2007 inclusive. This represents around one quarter of one per cent. of all payments made since April 2003. Information is not available on the number of claimants who have received manual payments in the same period.
	Around 34,500 households are currently receiving manual payments representing around 0.5 per cent. of households currently benefiting from tax credits.

Welfare Tax Credits: EC Accession

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what checks are made on claims for child tax credit by citizens of  (a) Poland,  (b) Slovakia,  (c) Lithuania,  (d) Estonia and  (e) Latvia resident in the UK;
	(2)  how many citizens of  (a) Poland,  (b) Slovakia,  (c) Latvia,  (d) Lithuania and  (e) Estonia are claiming (i) child tax credit and (ii) working tax credit in the UK;
	(3)  how many citizens of  (a) Poland,  (b) Slovakia,  (c) Lithuania,  (d) Latvia and  (e) Estonia are claiming child benefit in the UK;
	(4)  what checks are made on claims for child benefit from citizens of  (a) Poland,  (b) Slovakia,  (c) Latvia,  (d) Lithuania and  (e) Estonia.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 20 March 2007
	The detailed breakdown requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the last Accession monitoring report, published on 27 February 2007 on the Home Office immigration and nationality directorate's website, http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/reports/accession_monitoring_report, provides detailed information including the total number of workers from the new member states of the EU who have made a claim for child benefit and tax credits.
	All claims for tax credits and child benefit are subject to a wide range of checks throughout the life of each claim. It would be inappropriate to disclose a complete list of checks as to do so may provide assistance to those attempting to defraud the system.

Welfare Tax Credits: ICT

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many service credits he has made Capgemini liable for in each month since they took over the tax credit IT system; what the value is of these credits; and how many hours of online service disruption there have been to the system.

Dawn Primarolo: Under the terms of the Aspire contract, service credits are administered on a quarterly basis. The Aspire contract is the contract by which information technology is provided to the Inland Revenue and its successor department, HMRC.
	Capgemini assumed responsibility for the management of the Aspire contract in June 2004. The following table shows all service credits and their value since Capgemini took over the contract.
	The amounts represent a very small proportion of the annual cost of the Aspire contract and are commensurate with the low-level technological problems that are typically experienced in a service delivery of this size, complexity and value.
	It is very difficult to make comparisons with other public IT contracts where details are available due to widely differing approaches in the use of service credits and liquidated damages.
	The Aspire service credit figures are proportionately larger than Capgemini experience in their other outsourcing work in the UK, reflecting the tougher contractual conditions in a second generation outsourcing contract.
	
		
			  Quarter  Number of service credits  Value of service credits (£) 
			 Q3 2004 0 0 
			 Q4 2004 4 1,504,000 
			 Q1 2005 1 40,000 
			 Q2 2005 2 1,082,000 
			 Q3 2005 2 320,000 
			 Q4 2005 4 220,000 
			 Q1 2006 2 117,000 
			 Q2 2006 5 868,000 
			 Q3 2006 9 297,000 
			 Q4 2006 3 37,000 
		
	
	In March 2006 HMRC paid £270,000 back to Capgemini for overpayments made by Capgemini on service credits in previous quarters.
	Since Capgemini took over the tax credit IT system in June 2004 there have been 18 hours and 30 minutes of unscheduled online service disruption against a contracted time of 13,962 hours and 30 minutes. This represents 0.1 per cent. of unscheduled online service disruption. Of these 18 hours and 30 minutes, 15 hours and 45 minutes fell in the first year. In calendar year 2006 no hours were lost.

Welfare Tax Credits: ICT

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many new IT releases there have been to the tax credit system in each month since the contract transferred to Capgemini.

Dawn Primarolo: Capgemini assumed responsibility for the management of the Aspire contract in June 2004. The Aspire contract is the contract by which information technology is provided to the Inland Revenue and its successor department, HMRC.
	Since June 2004 there have been new IT releases to the tax credit system in September 2004, April 2005, November 2005, April 2006 and October 2006.

Welfare Tax Credits: ICT

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been paid to Capgemini for running the IT tax credits system, exclusive of VAT.

Dawn Primarolo: The amount paid to Capgemini in respect of IT service charges for running the tax credits system during the period from July 2004 to January 2007 is £64 million, exclusive of VAT.

Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many legal actions were instigated against tax credit claimants in respect of overpayments in each month of the last two years for which figures are available; and in how many cases in each month the claimant was continuing to dispute the claim.

Dawn Primarolo: Information on the monthly basis requested is not readily available and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.
	Before instigating legal proceedings HMRC make a number of attempts (by telephone and a personal visit) to contact the customer. They also check to see if there is any existing dispute about the overpayment before commencing legal action. Where the issue of a court summons produces a defence claiming that the overpayment is in dispute proceedings are suspended until the claim is resolved.

Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the contribution of official error in determining the level of write-offs of disputed overpayments of tax credits in 2005-06 and 2006-07;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the reasons for the difference in the amounts written off for disputed overpayments of tax credits in 2006-07 as compared to 2005-06.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the oral evidence given before the Treasury Committee on 14 March 2007.

Welfare Tax Credits: Personation

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit claimants have disputed their payment on the grounds that their identity has been stolen and a fraudulent claim has been made on their behalf.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 19 March 2007
	The information requested is not available but where a customer does contact HMRC to report possible abuse this is acted upon by the Department to stop any incorrect payments and prevent any further distress to the genuine claimant by correcting the claim as quickly as possible.